What do mHealth, eHealth and Behavioral Science Mean for the Future of Healthcare?

Alex Howard | O'Reilly Radar | May 21, 2012

We're living through one of the most dynamic periods in healthcare in our collective history. Earlier this year, Dr. Farzad Mostashari, the national coordinator of health IT, highlighted how the web, data and epatients are poised to revolutionize healthcare. The Internet is shaping healthcare in many ways, from the quantified self movement to participatory medicine, and even through the threat of a new "data divide" driven by unequal access to information, algorithmic and processing power.

Into this heady mix, add the mobile computing revolution, where smart devices rest in the pockets of hundreds of millions of citizens, collecting data and providing access to medical information. There's also the rapidly expanding universe of healthcare apps that promise to revolutionize how many services are created, distributed and delivered.

This month, I had the opportunity to discuss some of these trends with Dr. Audie Atienza (@AudieAtienza), a researcher who focuses on behavioral science and healthcare. Our interview, lightly edited for content and clarity, follows...