• (888) 505-7724
  • updates@sbmamec.com
  • Employer Portal
  • Employee Portal
SBMA Benefits
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Mail
  • Services
  • Benefit Plans
  • Employees
  • Employers
  • Resources
    • Compliance Updates
    • No Surprises Act Resource Page
    • COVID-19 Vaccine & Testing Updates
    • SmithRx Formulary
    • COBRA
    • At-Home COVID-19 Tests
  • News & Insights
  • Contact SBMA
  • Search
  • Menu Menu

What is the Difference Between mHealth, eHealth, Telehealth, and Telemedicine?

The digital health world has seen massive growth over the last year. eHealth, mHealth, telehealth, and telemedicine are used to describe the use of mobile and desktop technology for patient management.

Although these terms are used interchangeably at times, they each represent a different aspect of technology and healthcare.

Learn about the difference between eHealth, mHealth telehealth, and telemedicine below, and why it’s important to know the difference. 

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MHEALTH AND EHEALTH

Both mHealth and eHealth play a role in supporting healthcare with electronics. They perform similar functions, however, the means by which the information is provided is the primary difference. 

What is mHealth?

mHealth is an abbreviation for mobile health, which utilizes mobile devices, such as a cellphone or a tablet, to support healthcare practices.

With mHealth services, patients are able to log, store, and monitor their health records on their personal mobile devices. These applications are helpful in improving the efficiency of the delivery of healthcare information. mHealth applications can be helpful in research and practitioner and patient use. 

Additionally, health tracking apps on mobile devices are becoming increasingly popular during everyday use. There are over 318,000 health apps on the market to choose from. Popular health app examples of mHealth include:

  • Fitbit
  • GoogleFit
  • Apple Heart Study

mHealth has the ability for healthcare professionals to track the recovery of patients. 

As hospitals and healthcare become more reliant on technology, more and more hospitals and health facilities use the resources apps provide to access records, make appointments, and ask questions from mobile devices. 

What is eHealth?

On the other hand, eHealth consists of a much broader understanding of healthcare practices supported by electronic processes.

The technology used to improve healthcare practices with eHealth include electronic health records, patient administration systems, lab systems, and other records that cannot be stored within mobile health applications. 

According to the Journal of Medical Internal Research, there are 10 “e’s” in eHealth, which are:

  • Efficiency: Avoid unnecessary duplication and streamline the healthcare service between patient and provider
  • Enhancing quality: Providers have access to each other’s notes to avoid duplicating any previous exams or studies
  • Evidence based: There should still be scientific evidence on the basis of all information provided in eHealth
  • Empowerment: It should empower patients to be part of the medical process
  • Encouragement: Improving the relationship between healthcare provider and patient to work together in a partnership
  • Education: Healthcare providers and patients have increased educational resources to learn and implement
  • Enabling: Allowing easy communication between healthcare providers and patients across the board
  • Extending: Allowing healthcare services and assistance across the globe instead of relying on your set geographical location
  • Ethics: Maintain the same values of professional practice, informed consent, privacy, and equity
  • Equity: Make healthcare more equitable for users

Furthermore, it should be easy-to-use, entertaining, and exciting.

there are pros and cons to mhelath, ehealth, telehealth and telemedicine
Learn more about Affordable Benefits, talk with one of our team members!

Pros and Cons of mHealth and eHealth

Like everything else, there are pros and cons to using the digital capabilities of mHealth and eHealth.  

Pros of mHealth and eHealth

  • Education
  • Convenience
  • Encourages healthy behavior

These three elements make mHealth and eHealth valuable tools for users. It’s a form of education for users to understand medical terminology easily, learn more about anatomy, prescription medication, and provide the ability to research using medical literature.

We live in a world of convenience. Having technology on easily accessible smartphones keeps information at the tip of a finger, wherever users are. mHealth and eHealth can provide reminders about appointments or medications and much more by streamlining the communication processes. Healthcare providers have easier digital access to records and information instead of relying on paper documents.

Finally, these digital services act as a platform to encourage healthy behavior through reminders or even encouragement from doctors.   

Cons of mHealth and eHealth

  • Privacy of information 
  • Less regulation
  • Inaccurate spread of information

Like all digital information, the material presented in apps is susceptible to data breaches and hackers. There is also the potential that an app could share personal and private user information.

Additionally, these apps contain information that is less regulated than the information published in medical journals. For example, using them to test blood pressure may lead to inaccurate results.

Consider the pros and cons when using digital tools to support healthcare practices. 

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TELEHEALTH AND TELEMEDICINE

These terms are also confused with one another and used interchangeably. However, like eHealth and mHealth, one term serves a broader purpose. The broader term in this comparison is telehealth. Telehealth refers to both clinical and remote non-clinical services, including providing training and continued medical education for practitioners.

Telemedicine solely refers to remote clinical services. The concept of telemedicine was started to treat patients who are located in remote areas. 

Throughout the last year with more and more services relying more on virtual resources, it has served a greater purpose – providing people access to care without putting themselves at risk of contracting COVID-19. As more people gain access to these services, expectations around waiting room times, access to care, and convenience of care are changing.

Understanding the ways the terms work together to create the big picture of virtual healthcare is crucial to understanding your access to care. The aim of all of these services is to provide greater quality, efficiency, and cost of care to both practitioners and patients. Each plays a unique role in crafting a well-rounded digital healthcare plan for patients. 

Pros and Cons of Telehealth and Telemedicine 

Like mHealth and eHealth, the usage of telehealth and telemedicine can have positive and negative effects. Let’s uncover what they are.  

Pros of Telehealth and Telemedicine

  • Expands the number of specialists and healthcare professional access 
  • Simplifies patient visits which increases patient engagement
  • Is cost-efficient

Technological expansion now allows patients access to a wider net of specialists and healthcare professionals. Traveling to a provider is of no concern with video capabilities. This helps patients who live in a different location see a wider range of healthcare professionals, or help patients see a provider for visits that do not require in-person exams.

Patient engagement is crucial for the success of their treatment plan. Telehealth and telemedicine services give patients quick access to providers and supporting staff in case treatment plans need alteration. It also helps practitioners check in with patients conveniently and encourages the continuation of care plans. 

Overall, telehealth and telemedicine services are more cost-effective for patients and healthcare professionals. It saves time traveling and time in the waiting room. Additionally, virtual payment methods are quick, easy, and reduce paper billing processes.  

Cons of Telehealth and Telemedicine

  • Technical challenges 
  • Limitation to physical exams 
  • Industry regulations

On the flip side, technology itself poses challenges. Hardware, software, and wireless connection aren’t foolproof. They can malfunction without notice or in the middle of a virtual exam. Some users may even find switching to technology a more difficult barrier to overcome.

While video conferencing an appointment with a healthcare provider works for certain visits, they may not in all instances. There are times when seeing a provider in person will help find the answers needed for a treatment plan. 

Each state has different rules and regulations when it comes to telehealth and telemedicine practices. Again, as we rely more heavily on technology, there are rising concerns regarding how safe and protected information is from hackers and data breaches.

Overall, telemedicine and telehealth have pros and cons, similar to mHealth and eHealth. Weighing the benefits and the drawbacks of both help make better, well-informed decisions.

At SBMA, we believe in providing our clients with the most affordable, efficient benefits that are tailored to the needs of their employees. Telemedicine services integrate seamlessly into your benefits package to ensure your employees remain healthy and happy. 

Read on to learn more about telehealth and why it’s here to stay.

Search

Categories

LATEST NEWS IN ACA COMPLIANCE

  • brokers explaining ACA FAQsFAQs: ACA and ALEs – What You Need to KnowMarch 5, 2023 - 9:00 am
  • Full-Time vs Part-Time Benefits:Full-Time vs Part-Time Benefits: Why It MattersJanuary 1, 2023 - 7:00 am
  • Affordable care act ACA or Obamacare and stethoscope.Received an ACA Penalty from the IRS? Here’s What to DoDecember 25, 2022 - 12:25 pm

Archive

CONNECT WITH US

USEFUL LINKS

EMPLOYER PORTAL
EMPLOYEE PORTAL
PRIVACY POLICY 
THE BLOG

CONTACT SBMA

888-505-7724
UPDATES@SBMAMEC.COM

HOURS

Mon – Fri: 7:00am—5:00pm (PST)
Sat: CLOSED
Sun: CLOSED

FOLLOW US

© SBMA 2022 – all rights reserved

site designed by digitalstoryteller.io

© SBMA 2021 – all rights reserved
site designed by digitalstoryteller.io

What to Expect From Your Telemedicine VisitWhat to Expect From Your Telemedicine VisitWhat Does the Relief Bill Mean for Health Insurance?What Does the Relief Bill Mean for Health Insurance? Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

Accept settings

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Google Analytics Cookies

These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience.

If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here:

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Other cookies

The following cookies are also needed - You can choose if you want to allow them:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Accept settings