mHealth in China and the United States

Health care represents a major challenge for many countries. Governments around the world must address rising health care costs, aging populations, access disparities, and chronic illnesses. These issues present serious dilemmas for policymaking, budgets, and service delivery. Mobile technology boosts productivity, aids communication, helps providers improve affordability, and increases access to treatment.

On May 22, the China Academy of Telecommunication Research of MIIT (CATR) and Brookings jointly released the Chinese version of the research paper “mHealth in China and the United States.” The English version is available here.  The paper reviews the latest developments, challenges, and opportunities for mHealth in China and the United States. It also proposes a road map for developing mhealth programs within each country.

Cao Shumin, the president of CATR and Darrell West, the Vice President of Governance Studies at Brookings discussed the paper findings with other experts and government officials. The officers of the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Health and Family Planning Commission made speeches about the conference paper. About 140 experts from the government, industry, NGOs, medical agencies, universities, research institutions and media participated in the event.

mHealth has shown great potential, although it still remains in an early stage of development in many countries. Therefore, the research paper attracted the attention of related industries and government agencies in China. The paper includes guidelines for the future development of mHealth, and establishes a good foundation for the future cooperation of China and United States in the medical field.