As part of Apple’s ‘you’re more powerful than you think‘ video ad series they’ve turned to mHealth apps and devices to communicate the value of their smartphones and it’s already proving to be a viral hit (published on Youtube less than 48 hrs ago and it’s already had 500,000 views).
Veterinarian using the Alivecor ECG to provide care to a Horse
I think this makes for a great choice of application to showcase ‘grown up‘ uses of smartphones. Not only is Veterinary a career that’s really popular amongst youngsters and their parents but the work of Dr Dave Albert – the cardiologist entrepreneur who founded Alivecor – means that in the equine veterinary market we’re seeing a completely new trend.
Instead of the convergence of specialist medical tech to the smartphone we’re seeing accessories created for use with the smartphone that are capable of creating entirely new and even unthinkable categories (the vast majority of Veterinarians who consider themselves ‘horse vets’ don’t actually have an ECG machine so the AlivecorVet is not replacing an existing device but it’s often going to be their first and only ECG machine).
I think this is a key part of how mHealth will define this decade eg. during the Nokia decade we saw the Smartphone cannibalise other devices (eg. calculators, walkmans, pdas) whereas in the mHealth decade as we’ve now seen with the Alivecor ECG we’re going to see the increasingly powerful mobile make available entirely new medical tools that can empower Patients and Carers.
Note: Buy an Alivecor ECG today & get a discount + your first read for free!
Doctor using SIRI to communicate with a Patient in another language
I’m a massive fan of the Nuance powered SIRI and this looks great but from my experience the potential for mistakes/errors is too large for it to pass my ‘Mother Test’ and there are better ways to illustrate the value of the mobile for a Patient communicating with a Doctor especially when there is a complete language barrier (eg. the mobile could be used to take a comprehensive medical history in any language and translate it via Instant Medical History – note time pressures on Doctors mean there are language barriers even when Clinicians and Patients speak the same language).
Fire Department use of Response Deck to coordinate emergency response teams
Great use case. I can’t wait till Apple get their native Shazam app to listen for smoke alarms (like the Lifetone Alarm) so that iPhones can automatically notify emergency services with the precise location of alarms the instant they are triggered.
HatTip: Francis White
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Buy an Alivecor ECG today & get a discount + your first read for free!
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What unthinkable things will mHealth make possible
**** UPDATE 6 August 2014 ****
Checking out viewing info on the YouTube Apple iPhone Ad channel and it’s clear this advert is proving a hit even by Apple’s very own high standards:
With a viral success story like this Apple have proven that mHealth is a consumer intelligible application of advanced smartphone tech so you can be sure that mHealth roles will feature heavily in the announcement of the new iPhone on Tuesday 9th September. Slim chance other smartphone brands (and the mobile operators eventually) aren’t going to follow up by mainstreaming their own mHealth marketing efforts…
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