US Dept. of Defense focusing on mHealth

Donna Cusano

Since the time of Hippocrates, it’s been said that nothing moves medicine forward quite like war.  One impetus in the US is caring for soldiers who are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, along with those stationed here, to better manage rehabilitation and chronic conditions.  At Walter Reed Army Medical Center’s Diabetes Institute, researchers are using smartphones to pull up 15 to 30 second video clips to provide diabetics educational content on exercise, blood glucose monitoring, and diet.  In the test group of 170 (1/2 control), those who viewed in the user group had better control of their diabetes.  Also mentioned is the mCare test with AllOne Mobile (not cited) for veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI).  With the Peruvian government, there’s a test of mobile phones to detect emerging infections.  Worth reading, just watch out for the acronyms.  Federal Telemedicine News.