title: Perspectives on the evolution of mobile (mHealth) technologies and application to rehabilitation.
abstract: Individuals with chronic conditions and disabilities who are vulnerable to secondary complications often require complex habilitative and rehabilitative services to prevent and treat these complications. This perspective article reviews the evolution of mHealth technologies and presents insights as to how this evolution informed our development of a novel mHealth system, iMHere (interactive mobile health and rehabilitation), and other technologies, including those used by the Veterans Administration. This article will explain the novel applications of mHealth for rehabilitation and specifically physical therapy. Perspectives on the roles of rehabilitation professionals in the delivery of health care using mHealth systems are included. Challenges to mHealth, including regulatory and funding issues, are discussed. This article also describes how mHealth can be used to improve patient satisfaction and delivery of care and to promote health and wellness.
authors.affiliation: B.E. Dicianno, MD, Human Engineering Research Laboratories, Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, School of Medicine, and Department of Health Information Management, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Mailing address: Human Engineering Research Laboratories, University of Pittsburgh, 6425 Penn Ave, Suite 400, Pittsburgh, PA 15206 (USA). dicianno@pitt.edu.
authors.forename: Brad E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Dicianno
authors.affiliation: B. Parmanto, PhD, Department of Health Information Management, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh.
authors.forename: Bambang
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Parmanto
authors.affiliation: A.D. Fairman, PhD, MOT, OTR/L, CPRP, Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, and Department of Occupational Therapy, Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Andrea D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Fairman
authors.affiliation: T.M. Crytzer, PT, DPT, ATP, Department of Rehabilitation Science and Technology, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh.
authors.forename: Theresa M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Crytzer
authors.affiliation: D.X. Yu, Department of Health Information Management, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh.
authors.forename: Daihua X
authors.initials: DX
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: G. Pramana, MS, Department of Health Information Management, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh.
authors.forename: Gede
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pramana
authors.affiliation: D. Coughenour, PT, DPT, MPM, CLD, Clinical Support Service Line, Rehabilitation Department, Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System.
authors.forename: Derek
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Coughenour
authors.affiliation: A.A. Petrazzi, PT, MPT, MPM, VHA-CM, Primary Care Service Line, Veterans Affairs Pittsburgh Healthcare System.
authors.forename: Alan A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Petrazzi
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D063731:Mobile Applications; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities / Q000295:instrumentation*; D010810:Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017216:Telemedicine; D018910:Video Games