Technology Salon

For our Technology Salon on How Can Partnerships Improve the Digital Health Ecosystem?, we discussed partnerships and interoperability in global health systems. The room housed a wide range of perspectives, from small to large non-governmental organizations to donors and funders to software developers to designers to healthcare professionals to students. Our lead discussants were: Josh…

Last Thursday, we had the honor of getting together with many of our peers and partners in New York City to discuss How Can Partnerships Improve the Digital Health Ecosystem? The discussion was moderated by Linda Raftree of Tech Salon, sponsored by Medic Mobile and Praekelt, and hosted by Thoughtworks. The main discussants were: Josh…

In a recent Twitter exchange, James BonTempo asked a very pertinent question about the current mHealth buzz:

The only mHealth definition? (Img: DataDyne)

Should definition of #mHealth include devices (wondering specifically about netbooks) or simply the concept of mobility?

He followed up his initial query with a simple poll that asked if mHealth should include a list of specific platforms or just the concept of mobility. So far, Twitterers agree, the “m” in mHealth should represent mobility, regardless of form factor.

But that’s different from the general notion of mHelth, represented by the mHealth Wikipedia entry, which focuses on equipment “mHealth is a recent term for medical and public health practice supported by mobile devices, such as mobile phones, patient monitoring devices, PDAs, and other wireless devices”

In our next Technology Salon, we’ll explore what the “m” in mHealth means for those who actually practice mHelath, with these field-experienced experts: