The value of mhealth really shows in COVID-19 times The coronavirus crisis presented health care with an unprecedented challenge. The health system was put under tremendous pressure and health workers and medical support staff worked around the clock. Still today, almost every day, they roll up their sleeves to provide lifesaving treatment to those infected and entrusted to their care often at genuine risk to their own wellbeing.
A
This prove of added value didn’t come as a surprise. In 2015 mhealth appeared for the first time in the Belgian e-health roadmap. After a pilot test with 24 subsidized pilot projects, the evaluation revealed the need of a validation model. There are more than 300,000 health, lifestyle and wellness products in the two big app stores. How can patients or health care professionals navigate their way to high-quality apps? Very few of these apps are CE-marked as medical devices.
s a result of the first outbreak procedures that were nonurgent and not linked to COVID-19 were postponed and vulnerable patients could not risk traveling to clinics for appointments. This virus therefore also had and still has many indirect and particularly unpleasant consequences for people suffering from chronic and psychological illnesses. Furthermore, the latter group of patients is particularly subject to increased stress during the long period of quarantine and social isolation. Similarly, people who have no medical problems but who have medical questions are not always able to turn to the appropriate medical staff and services.
The answer came early 2019 with the launch of the mHealthBelgium portal, https://mhealthbelgium.be, a joint initiative by industry and government. The platform lists approved apps on different levels. At the heart of the platform is a pyramid with 3 levels. Level 1 (M1) apps are CE marked as medical devices. This is a basic requirement to be listed on the platform. Level 2 (M2) apps meet ICT criteria on safe connectivity and interoperability, and Level 3 (M3) apps are integrated and financed in new care paths. After launching level 2 at the end of May 2020, the launch of level 3 is planned for early 2021. At that point the validation pyramid will be fully functional. Currently 23 mhealth applications that are CEcertified as medical devices are listed on the platform in level 1, 7 of these apps have already completed the cycle for level 2 and thus obtained this label.
To support care workers and ease the pressure on the health system all kinds of new technologies have been developed and immediately proved their added value. The first steps have been taken towards more telemedicine, and this is a good thing. In the end, this shift also leads to savings in health care. These new medical technologies, namely digital health technologies (DHTs) and, in particular, mhealth apps, played a vital role in providing solutions. For example, using smartphones and tablets, digital tools helped to keep patients out of hospitals and avoid physical contact between patients and health care professionals while still allowing them to maintain crucial contact. At the same time these DHTs guarantee the same level of quality (and continuity) of care. And all this in a safe domestic environment.
The implementation of level 3 will represent a real breakthrough for digital health care in Belgium. beMedTech is convinced that the financing of new care pathways using mhealth applications will enable these technologies to go mainstream. Not only during the current crisis, but also in the “post-coronavirus” era.
© Adobe Stock
The COVID-19 pandemic clearly showcased the value of mhealth apps providing essential care (monitoring, diagnosis, treatment) and access to education, wherever the patient is, thus relieving the undeniable additional pressure on health care providers. They will remain widely applicable for society, even after the ongoing crisis.
55
