Role of Mobile Technology in Iran Healthcare System: A review study

Abstract

Introduction: Mobile technology has provided new opportunities for health care systems. Improvement of health services outcomes in different patient groups is one of the benefits of using this tool. Although the use of mobile in Iran is expanding, there is no evidence of the state and the use of this technology in health system. The aim of this study was to review published researches on the application of mHealth in the health system of Iran. Methods: In order to carry out a review study, Pubmed database was searched by the keyword "mobile Health" and its equivalents which have derived from the "Medical Subject Headings". Iranian databases including Iran medex, Magiran and Scientific Information Database (SID) were also searched for Persian and English terms of mobile health. Retrieval citations from information databases were sent to the endnote software and evaluated based on the considered criteria. Results: The research sample consisted of 26 articles that met the criteria of the study. In most of studies, text messaging was the main intervention tool of mHealth. The results indicated significant effect of mobile health in improving the patients' care. Conclusion: In Iran, mobile health can be effectively used in the health system due to population structure and geographic extent. According to the results of this study, the use of mobile health, especially in educating patients for self-care and preventing the spread of diseases, can be very effective.

Keywords

• mobile health
• mobile phone
• cell phones
• text messaging
• health care system