Mobile Health Services

PURPOSE

This inspection provides a national overview of the types and prevalence of mobile health services, the quality of these services, and the degree of regulation.

BACKGROUND

This is one in a series of reports on mobile health services. Two other reports describe: (1) the prevalence, conduct, and regulation of public cholesterol screening; and, (2) mobile health care providers that serve medically underserved and uninsured populations in public settings or make physician house calls. We conducted these studies in response to a request by the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Regulation and Business Opportunities. They provide information concerning mobile health services: services offered outside the traditional settings of a hospital, clinic, or physician's office. This report provides a preliminary look at the mobile health services industry. An in-depth study would require a great deal more research, given the wide variety of services and providers. The services described in this study share one common characteristic: they bring healthcare to the people. Public screening reaches millions in community settings across the country. Providers using specially equipped vehicles go to employees on the job, visit the chronically ill in their homes, and park at migrant camps, homeless shelters, and rural crossroads. Large, high-tech equipment is loaded on trailers and shared by hospitals. This study reveals that the mobile health services industry is changing and expanding. At present, public cholesterol screening is the only mobile health service which is both prevalent and nationally visible. While it is not clear whether or to what extent the industry is growing, some mobile health services appear promising in terms of providing health care in new and possibly cost-effective ways.