Health services in remote and austere settings are challenged by limited resources and geographic distance. Lack of investigative tools or local specialist care may impede timely diagnoses or focused treatment. Teleultrasound is an effective tool to overcome these obstacles, permitting trained experts to provide guidance to isolated environments. This paper reports on the many applications of teleultrasound and recent developments in the field.

Keywords: teleultrasound, remote, austere, mobile

Background: In rural areas, a considerable lack of therapy and self-help facilities has been described with regard to drug dependence treatment. Mobile technologies are supposed to bridge geographical distances and improve access to healthcare.

Aim: The paper therefore aims to compare conventional vs. mHealth supported delivery processes in drug dependence treatment.

Methods: We use BPMN process modelling to compare usual vs. mHealth assisted treatment pathways for drug addiction. The details of mHealth support (mHealth configuration, monitoring, interventions, information processing) are also demonstrated.

Results: The paper shows (1) that the medical treatment gap mainly occurs at the interface between inpatient and outpatient care and (2) that mHealth support eliminates this interface problem. mHealth effectively supports drug dependence treatment in rural areas.

Conclusion: The paper demonstrates an mHealth based optimization of a complex treatment process. Our approach is also expected to improve theoretical and practical knowledge in mHealth service engineering.

Keywords: patient-therapist collaboration, mHealth, clinical pathway, drug addiction, BPMN, interface

Background: A 2017 study by Giles-Smith et al examining nurse use of and attitudes towards mobile devices at the bedside revealed nurses were reluctant to use mobile devices due to concerns patients would view such device use negatively.

Aims: To explore whether the concerns expressed in the 2017 study regarding mobile device use by healthcare professionals were valid, a qualitative study was conducted to determine patient attitudes towards healthcare professionals’ use of mobile devices at the bedside.

Methods: Short interviews were conducted with 30 inpatients on medical and surgical units at a community hospital in Winnipeg, MB, Canada. Questions captured the inpatients’ socio-demographic data, experiences with healthcare providers using mobile devices during their current stay, and opinions on the use of mobile devices by healthcare providers. The qualitative responses were analysed and coded to determine themes.

Results: Thirty (30) inpatients completed the interviews. Few inpatients reported observing mobile devices use during their current hospital stay. Participants were supportive of the idea of mobile device use in the hospital setting but felt use should be restricted to professional purposes. Results showed a high degree of confidence among patients in the professionalism of their healthcare professionals.

Conclusion: Patients expressed an acceptance of mobile device use in hospitals as a natural extension of the increasing prevalence of technology in modern society. As mobile device use in hospitals increases, healthcare policies that outline acceptable use and protect patient privacy will be necessary. Education will play an important role in improving patient understanding of how mobile devices are used at the bedside.

Keywords: Inpatients, attitude, qualitative research, surveys and questionnaires, mobile devices

Background: Over the last few years mobile phone applications have been designed for healthcare professionals.  However, little is known in regards to healthcare professionals’ use of and attitudes towards using smartphones (and applications) within clinical practice.  Thus the aims of the present study were to enumerate the number of healthcare professionals that use mobile phones within clinical practice and their attitudes towards using them.  Furthermore, given that the internet preceded smartphones, we also established healthcare professionals’ attitudes towards internet use in clinical practice as a comparison.

Method: Forty-three healthcare professionals from a range of disciplines and specialities who were predominantly working in Australia completed an anonymous online survey.

Results: Ninety-one per cent of healthcare professionals owned a mobile phone of which 87% used it during clinical practice.   No healthcare professional was supplied with a smartphone by their clinical/healthcare workplace.  Consequently they used their privately owned device.  For ten out of eleven analogous statements healthcare professionals had significantly more positive attitudes towards internet than mobile phone use in clinical practice.  However, attitudes for eight of the ten statements pertaining to mobile phone use were positive.  Mobile phones were perceived negatively in regard to confidentiality.  Furthermore, healthcare professionals’ also had the perception that patients may think that they are using their mobile for non-medical purposes.

Conclusion: Mobiles, including smartphones, are commonly used within clinical practice and at present most healthcare professionals use their privately owned device.  Despite healthcare professionals having more positive attitudes toward internet use, their attitudes towards mobile use were largely positive.  Our results suggest that mobile phone use, in particular smartphone use, within clinical practice is likely to increase in the future.