Alnasser Yossef, Grande Nicole, Masood Fakeha, Powell Cadina, Gilman Robert H
Department of Pediatrics, BronxCare Health System, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA.
American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine, Cupecoy, Sint Maarten.
Mhealth. 2025 May 7;11:39. doi: 10.21037/mhealth-24-71. eCollection 2025.
With the evolution of technology, the delivery modes of healthcare have been completely transformed. Since the first use of telemedicine in the late 20th century, it has continued to evolve with advancement of technology. Today, telemedicine does not need sophisticated equipment and expensive platforms. Using a singular device to offer a wide range of services is both desired and necessary to provide higher-quality care at greater quantities. The inclusion of smartphone-telemedicine in many high-income countries proves a plausible framework to build upon for inclusion in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). The primary goal of this review is to analyze existing literature on smartphone-based telemedicine and assess the scalability of this form of care to provide both accessible and equal care for all.
This is a narrative review that analyzed English published literature in PubMed, Medline, Cochrane Reviews, and Google Scholar over the last 50 years.
Smartphone-based telemedicine can be divided mainly to mHealth and teleconsultation. Both applications are proven cost-effective at different extents and can augment health in different capacities. While mHealth is more suitable for health behavior change, smartphone teleconsultations can be employed in direct patient care. Smartphones' applicability to different settings and flexibility make them ideal for telemedicine. This form of telemedicine might be more suitable for low-resource settings and LMIC due to compatibility with current infrastructure, ease of use, lower cost and high availability. However, ease of use comes with risk of overutilization and providers' burnout. Privacy, digital divide and health literacy are other barriers of accessing smartphone-based telemedicine. Growing smartphone penetration and technology advancement carry future potentials for scaling up smartphone telemedicine in LMIC to advance equity and equality. Still, policies and regulations need to be implemented to protect privacy while using smartphones for telemedicine.
Smartphone-based telemedicine is an applicable form of telemedicine for low-resource settings and LMIC. Not all mHealth applications are suitable for LMIC, but investing in smartphone-based telemedicine for teleconsultation can save lives and lower the cost of care to reach everyone efficiently without a huge burden in a cost-effective manner for many LMIC.
随着技术的发展，医疗保健的提供模式已发生了彻底变革。自20世纪末首次使用远程医疗以来，它随着技术进步不断发展。如今，远程医疗并不需要复杂的设备和昂贵的平台。使用单一设备提供广泛的服务对于以更大规模提供更高质量的医疗服务而言既必要又可行。在许多高收入国家纳入智能手机远程医疗证明了一个可行的框架，可供低收入和中等收入国家（LMIC）借鉴。本综述的主要目的是分析关于基于智能手机的远程医疗的现有文献，并评估这种医疗形式的可扩展性，以便为所有人提供可及且平等的医疗服务。
这是一项叙述性综述，分析了过去50年在PubMed、Medline、Cochrane综述和谷歌学术上发表的英文文献。
基于智能手机的远程医疗主要可分为移动健康（mHealth）和远程会诊。这两种应用在不同程度上都被证明具有成本效益，并且能够以不同能力促进健康。虽然移动健康更适合改变健康行为，但智能手机远程会诊可用于直接的患者护理。智能手机对不同环境的适用性和灵活性使其成为远程医疗的理想选择。由于与现有基础设施的兼容性、易用性、低成本和高可用性，这种形式的远程医疗可能更适合资源匮乏地区和低收入及中等收入国家。然而，易用性伴随着过度使用和提供者倦怠的风险。隐私、数字鸿沟和健康素养是获取基于智能手机的远程医疗的其他障碍。智能手机普及率的不断提高和技术进步为在低收入和中等收入国家扩大智能手机远程医疗以促进公平和平等带来了未来潜力。尽管如此，在使用智能手机进行远程医疗时仍需要实施政策和法规来保护隐私。
基于智能手机的远程医疗是一种适用于资源匮乏地区和低收入及中等收入国家的远程医疗形式。并非所有移动健康应用都适合低收入和中等收入国家，但投资基于智能手机的远程医疗进行远程会诊可以挽救生命并降低护理成本，从而以具有成本效益的方式高效地惠及所有人，而不会给许多低收入和中等收入国家带来巨大负担。
