Although mobile technology has the power to vastly improve healthcare delivery in developing regions, many issues can affect the success of mHealth systems. This paper lists seven factors (or rather, implementation considerations) that affect the success of mHealth, based on some salient issues that have come to the fore in past projects. The factors are:
- Factor 1: mHealth is not mass media
- Factor 2: Deliver multiple services through mHealth
- Factor 3: Evolve business models for curative and preventive health
- Factor 4: Consider mobile data collection as the means to an end
- Factor 5: Partial automation deters mHealth adoption in health system
- Factor 6: mHealth is integrative
- Factor 7: mHealth is multidisciplinary
Why it helps with planning: Offers considerations to be aware of when designing an mHealth program that operates within a health system.