Healthcare mobile information flow

Abstract

There are a variety of mobile technologies currently available that have increased the potential for healthcare practitioners to access clinical decision support resources delivered over an array of mobile devices as a component of clinical workflow. Mobile devices ranging from smartphones to iPads, to netbooks are frequently used by clinical practitioners to gain access to vital patient and operational data as a part of their daily regimen. The convergence of mobile technology, pent-up demand by practitioners, and increasingly “smart” devices is spiking the potential for widespread deployment. This paper looks at the market drivers from the perspective of the STM publisher. The conclusion is that of the various mobility options available, the most promising for the publishers is to increase their interest in converging traditional referential content with newer forms of electronic workflow tools that uses an interactive data layer to access patient workflow data from a variety of embedded Hospital Information Systems (HIS). The Thomson Reuters Clinical Xpert solutions are presented as examples of these evolving services. This opportunity should expand the publisher's legacy position within clinical decision support driven by the healthy forecast adoption rates for mobile e-Services among providers at the hospital and physician level. Given increasing regulatory mandates in the US along with likely improvements in Electronic Health Records (EHR), publishers along with new types of service providers from the Healthcare Ecosystem will likely be competing as they seek to expand their footprint by offering enhanced mobile clinical decision support data driven services in what is forecast to be a growing market opportunity.