BOSTON, MA--(Marketwired - Jul 25, 2013) -
WHAT: Mobiquity (www.mobiquityinc.com) today announced the availability of a new report that examines how mobile technology has become a cost-effective and scalable driver of behavior change in healthcare and other industries. "Designing an Effective Behavior Change Platform" unveils the findings of a comprehensive research effort into how mobile is currently used to influence behavior, and identifies best practices within a new Mobiquity framework that furthers the goal of using mobile to achieve beneficial behavior change.
To download the report, "Designing an Effective Behavior Change Platform," please visit: http://www.mobiquityinc.com/our-ideas/white-papers/designing-effective-behavior-change-platform
WHO: The research study was commissioned by Mobiquity, a professional services firm creating innovative mobile solutions and apps that drive business value, and the Wireless Innovation Council (WIC), an organization of leading innovative companies across several industries that identifies areas of mobile innovation and benchmarks how businesses should respond. WIC is comprised of strategic decision-makers across various industries and functions, including executives from Progressive Insurance, Marriott, Fidelity, UnitedHealth Group, SUPERVALU, Reed Elsevier, the U.S. Navy, Harley Davidson, UCB, CatamaranRx, Pitney Bowes, Lockheed Martin, L'Oreal and NORC.
WHY: Old habits are hard to break. Whether it's binge eating, smoking, or intermittent exercise, long-term behaviors are difficult to change -- even when patients know they may be harmful to their health in the long run. But it's not only individuals who are impacted when they fail to modify their behavior. The United States spends an estimated $290 billion annually on healthcare costs when patients fail to take their prescribed medications. And U.S. consumers spend $50 billion on weight loss products, from questionable fat-burning supplements to ineffective exercise equipment.
These health and economic factors are reasons why healthcare organizations and researchers have turned their attention to mobile as a tool to drive behavior change, or modify the expected behavior of an individual (or group) to achieve a healthier outcome.
HOW MOBILE DRIVES BEHAVIOR CHANGE: Mobile technology has a number of unique characteristics that make it a powerful way to deliver information aimed at modifying a person's routine. Coupled with advances in Big Data, analytics and social media, mobile delivers the right message at the right time, in the right place, with minimal effort required from the user -- key to successfully influencing behavior.
The report identifies several examples of the impact of mobile solutions on behavior change, including companies like Proteus, Vitality and Memotext, which offer sensors, mobile alerts and reminders, and cloud-based analytics, respectively, to track when and how often medications are taken, and let patients know when they have missed a dosage.
Mobiquity's Behavior Change Platform incorporates best practices researched during the study, integrating a highly engaging user interface, multiple ways to communicate, and a predictive analytics engine to trigger timely mobile alerts based on context, behavior and use profile.
Mobiquity also produced a new infographic, "15 Ways Your Smartphone Can Make You Healthier," which can be downloaded here: http://mobiquityinc.com/our-ideas/infographics/behavior-change
SUPPORTING QUOTE: Dr. Stephen Ferzoco, Mobiquity Chief Medical Officer:
"Behavior change techniques and theories have been around for decades, but largely they have not achieved sustained success. The unique attributes of mobile provide an opportunity to not only strengthen behavior change initiatives, but also transform healthcare from a system that revolves around physicians and hospitals to one that actively engages the patient. Through our research we firmly believe that slight modifications to patient behavior change have the potential to save the U.S. healthcare system $300 billion, through better preventive care and adherence to prescribed therapies."
About Mobiquity
Mobiquity is a leading professional services firm working with the Global 2000 to create engaging enterprise-class mobile solutions and apps that drive business value. Mobile is in our DNA, and clients benefit from how we expertly and effectively blend the three key disciplines that unleash the power and innovation of mobile computing: strategy, user-centered design and core technology. Since inception, our client roster has surged to more than 120 companies, including CVS, Fidelity Investments, MetLife, the New York Post, Putnam Investments, The Boston Globe and Weight Watchers International, and we partner with SAP to help its customers develop and implement mobile strategies and applications that optimize enterprise solution investments. To learn more, visit www.mobiquityinc.com.