世界のmHealth（モバイルヘルス）動向

mHealthとは、モバイル技術を活用した医療・ヘルスケアサービスを意味し、2017年には230億ドル市場という堅調な伸びが推定されている分野である。先進市場では、mHealthにより過度な医療費を抑制するという目的がある一方、医療インフラ不足を抱える新興市場ではmHealth導入によりその不足を補う狙いだ。
先進諸国（EU、米国、韓国）では医療分野にICTを導入するための政策や方針が掲げられており、モバイルキャリアにおいても各種パートナーとの提携により、遠隔診断、慢性疾患患者管理、医療画像管理等のmHealthサービスの展開を進めている。新興市場にてmHealthを進めるキャリアとしては、英国・フランスを旧宗主国とするアフリカの国々でそれぞれVodafoneとOrangeの取り組みが目立つ。またVodafone財団らは新興市場のmHealth普及促進を目的に「mHealthアライアンス」を組織し、新興市場ならではの課題にアプローチしている。

mHealth refers to healthcare services empowered by mobile technology such as mobile access, smartphones, tablet and similar technologies. According to GSMA and Mckinsey, the mHealth market will expand to US$23 billion by 2017. In developed nations mHealth is expected to reduce ever-increasing healthcare costs. On the other hand, in developing nations characterized by poor healthcare infrastructure, mHealth is expected to complement existing capacity. In developed countries such as the EU member states, the U.S., and South Korea, governments are proactively introducing information and communications technologies into the medical industry. In cooperation with their healthcare sectors, mobile operators in these countries provide a variety of mHealth services including remote diagnosis, diabetes management and healthcare monitoring services. In developing countries, such as states in Sub-Saharan Africa, Vodafone and Orange not only provide mobile communications services, but also facilitate mHealth services. The 'mHealth Alliance', an organization supported by the Vodafone Foundation, the UN Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation, is also expanding mHealth services in developing countries.
The biggest challenge facing widespread expansion of mHealth is establishiging a workable business model. A great number of pilot services end up terminating after a trial due to the lack of a business model. The complexity of the healthcare ecosystem, including policy and reimbursement system issues, is a major obstacle for creating mHealth businesses that are sustainable. Healthcare is by its very nature a social service, consequently, what is needed for operators is to expand mHealth solutions in a different form to the provision of conventional mobile solutions to established clients. If operators provide healthcare organization with mHealth solutions based on vertical integration models that do not incorporate an interoperability function, services are isolated and fragmented. This scenario leads to high investment costs and a low penetration rate. Therefore, it is important for operators to incorporate interoperability at a basic level in services to aid the efficient adoption of mHealth in appropriate contexts