ABSTRACT
Access to healthcare is now considered an important part of the basic human rights, and the excellence of healthcare is essential in the safety of the complex network of society. Not only does it affect our individual health but it also directly touches persistent problems such as financial inequality, international poverty, war and conflict, natural disaster emergency situations, and national security1. These problems are in turn further complicated through growing healthcare costs, an aging global population, and a growth in chronic illnesses1. In the intelligent hospital of the future, experts will try to address these problems by integrating technological advancements that have recently fueled the ongoing revolution in healthcare with the explosion in mobile computing power that consumers have experienced. A doctor’s expertise can be reached from a patient’s pocket through a smartphone, as the doctor can remotely monitor the patient’s vital signs, perform simple medical diagnostic tests, observe the progress of an ongoing illness, predict a near future health event, contact the patient, dispatch emergency services for help, or even provide simple immediate treatment if needed, before the patient has even noticed any symptoms. A decade or two ago, this level of excellence in healthcare monitoring and remote healthcare delivery was perhaps only thought to be reserved for astronauts on the space station, but is now available to the average person thanks to the concept of mobile health (mHealth); an industry based on health equality, patient involvement, emerging technologies, consumerism, and a convergent evolution of electronic equipment into smartphones.
