Connected Living Latam Summit: The connected future

GSMA event addressed the various aspects of connectivity in the everyday lives of people and presented an unprecedented survey on mobile health.

With six billion connections, communication over mobile devices has already revolutionized the world and transformed how people communicate, access information, entertainment and the Internet, in general

In the very near future, in a new wave of connectivity, we will see cars, buildings, medical monitors, TVs, video game consoles and a series of electronic and household appliances connected, many via wireless, interacting in an intelligent manner with other devices and people. This will occur in the most diverse activities, such as health, education and automotive, creating intelligent cities and changing people’s day-to-day lives

According to Machina Research, total revenues generated by connected devices will grow from US$ 560 billion in 2012 to US$ 1.8 trillion in 2020, US$ 1.2 trillion representing opportunities for mobile operators.

In order to debate the opportunities, challenges and business models for developing Connected Living in Latin America, next June 26-27, GSMA promoted Connected Living Latam Summit at Vivo’s head offices in São Paulo.

Unprecedented survey

During the event, the results of an unprecedented survey conducted among Brazilian doctors and patients about the advantages of mobile health, or mHealth, were announced. According to the survey, most Brazilian doctors and patients believe mHealth’s resources (use of mobile devices in medicine of public health) will benefit health treatment and patient monitoring.

The survey, conducted by MORI, at the GSM Association’s request, was based on interviews held between June 1 and 18 in São Paulo. The survey is part of a study that involves three other countries (USA, India and China) and the results will be ready in mid-July. The main objective is to evaluate how doctors and patients see and perceive mHealth’s products and services.

In the interviews conducted with 190 cardiologists, endocrinologists and clinicians, and with 194 patients with diabetes or cardiovascular problems, the answers show that the benefits of mHealth are perceived by 98% of the doctors and by 84% of the patients. The most significant benefits are perceived by the doctors: 69% believe mHealth’s resources will provide improved information for diagnosis and treatment; 68% believe they will finally be able to monitor patients in real time; and 74% feel mHealth will provide the patient with support and motivation to achieve changes in diet or lifestyle.

For the patients, the major benefits perceived also include real time monitoring (62%), improved quality of follow-up (53%), reduced need for office visits (54%) and the support and motivation to achieve changes in diet or lifestyle (75%).

However, both publics believe treatment represents challenges. For 75% of the doctors, the biggest challenge is the change in lifestyle and compliance with diet by the patients. This challenge is confirmed by 55% of the patients. And, while 44% of all doctors feel their patients simply forget to take their medications correctly, only 21% agree this is a real challenge.

Despite the advantages mHealth can provide, the survey pointed out issues that can impede frequent use. The most important, indicated by 61% of the doctors, is the fact this technology is not appropriate for all patients, is expensive (38%), or is not integrated to the systems they currently use (39%). In the opinion of the patients, the barriers are in the fact their doctors do not use the technology (51%); the lack of information about existing options (50%) and the cost of the solution (44%). Altogether, 71% of the doctors and 56% of the patients recognize barriers in adopting mHealth.

Nevertheless, both publics (94% of the doctors and 84% of the patients) agree they could be overcome, depending on some critical factors, such as affordable cost (70% of doctors and 60% of patients), proof that mHealth provides better results in treatment (67% of doctors), indication of the doctor and the possibility of using the solution even when traveling.

Resources

Image gallery of Connected Living Latam Summit

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