Slow adoption of mhealth in some regions.
In some regions like third world countries mhealth services are taking a little longer to penetrate. In some regions, the researchers and the innovators face some unique circumstances when trying to launch ventures such as mhealth initiatives. Such challenges include the lack of technical training. There may be a shortage of research tools that are required. Limited financial resources most of the time impede further penetration of such scientific initiatives. Another further impediment to the rollout of mhealth is the inaccessibility of up-to-date scientific information. People are not able to access new information made available to come up with new innovations easily in both the scientific and manufacturing sectors.
Privacy and ethical questions on mhealth devices.
A patient’s data information is connected to digital health collection. Access to such a large amount of data becomes enticing to third parties in business sector. Data can also be stolen through malware or social engineering for example through hacking of the servers. The data is then sold off in the black market where it can be used to cause harm. There have been cases where some patients committed suicide when data on their therapy notes were leaked to the public. Manufacturers and medical practitioners using the mhealth platform are encouraged to secure storage for patient information through encryption so as reduce cases of loss of reputation and income from concerned parties.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fdgth.2020.536203/full
Fragmented data in the mhealth information systems.
A lot of information is generated from many patients who are served by medical practitioners. It’s hard to keep track of the data before its analyzed from the different departments. Collecting and synchronizing when not done well will make healthcare practitioners provide inaccurate diagnoses and treatments to their patients. A lax has been detected where there lack of stiff guidelines on how organizations handle patient information and its storage. Proper organization of record keeping will ensure that the records can be easily updated for virtual patient consultations or even during face to face consultationhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fdgth.2020.536203/full
Cyber security against the mhealth platforms.
A lot of personal data is collected on the mhealth platform. In the healthcare sector information leakage, end-user authentication deficiencies are a huge threat. Appropriate measures are encouraged to be used to strengthen areas that can be easily compromised. The threats can be from individuals who are out to cause harm but it can also be from faulty systems software coding error is known to cause the erroneous distribution of personal information from faulty software. A lot of money is used in order for an organization to remain vigilant against cyber-attacks. The cost, therefore, is found to be prohibitive in the further penetration of mhealth platforms where patients can enjoy the services are offered.
Digital products not being user friendly for mhealth users.
The machines used in the medical field are very complex an example is the heart monitoring devices that are used by cardiologists. The makers of mhealth devices have to make sure the devices that they come up with are able to capture the data from these complex machines while still being relatively easy for the user to use without much difficulty. A poorly designed device might cause the user to remove the device which will in effect cause the disruption in data collection. A lot of medical practitioners also said that if the software is complicated they find it hard to use it on the regular basis with either their colleagues or even prescribe its usage to their patients. It was also noted that when using a system that is interconnected with others in the medical facility but is susceptible to bugs impacts negatively on usage by the intended user. This is because when the medical systems are compromised they tend to undermine their performance.
