Vodafone UK launched mHealth Professional this week, a mobile-focused healthcare package aimed at increasing efficiency in the UK healthcare system. The package includes Advanced Health and Care's iNurse patient management application, Ubisys's digital pens, and SitexOrbis's lone worker protection software.

mHealth Professional allows workers to access patient records from smartphones, securely access hospital networks remotely, monitor an employee’s location and respond to threats to their safety when they are away from the office or hospital and the innovative digital pen to electronically record and store handwritten information.

"The question is not whether governments should use mobile health... it is how” they should use it, Vodafone Group CEO Vittorio Colao declared during a keynote presentation in London in late 2009. "I personally believe that the mobile phone has a very siginifcant role to play in the provision of healthcare,” Colao said at the time. Colao explained that key use cases for mobile in healthcare include: the simplification of clinical work flows, statistical analysis of record keeping, supporting the chronically ill at home as well as reaching under resourced and geographically dispersed communities. Many of those are now part of the recent mHealth Professional launch.

“The drive towards delivering care to patients within their homes means innovative mobile technologies that allow healthcare professionals to work easily and effectively in local communities are vital," Vodafone UK Enterprise Director Peter Kelly stated in the mHealth Professional launch press release.

Check out the full press release after the jump.

Today’s launch of Vodafone mHealth Professional signals a change in the way healthcare professionals work, offering a step toward the future of healthcare delivery.

At a time when the NHS is under increased pressure to drive efficiencies and find savings of £20 billion over the next four years, Vodafone UK is using its expertise in mobile technology to support the healthcare sector, helping to deliver improved patient care more efficiently.

mHealth Professional is a suite of cost-effective, mobile and flexible working tools, services and applications. It includes features such as access to patient records from smartphones, secure remote access to information and systems, tools to monitor an employee’s location and respond to threats to their safety when they are away from the office or hospital and the innovative digital pen to electronically record and store handwritten information.

The suite of tools can be tailored to any healthcare specialism so that regardless of function, every healthcare worker can have the perfect blend of tools to do their job.

Healthcare organisations will see benefits such as less paperwork, secure access to patient data and the ability to update patient records on the move, greater efficiencies of time and resources and the peace of mind that healthcare workers can work safely from wherever they need to. Crucially, with mHealth Professional healthcare workers will be able to spend more time with patients and see more patients during a working day.

Peter Kelly, Enterprise Director of Vodafone UK said: “The drive towards delivering care to patients within their homes means innovative mobile technologies that allow healthcare professionals to work easily and effectively in local communities are vital.

“Our mHealth Professional healthcare-specific and mobile working solutions support a genuine and very real need in the healthcare sector. Healthcare workers who use this cost-effective technology can be highly productive and most importantly are able to make better-informed decisions at the point of care.”