Who Benefits?

The Mobile Health Map and ROI project benefits policy makers, funders, existing mobile health providers and other practitioners in the following ways.

Policy Makers & Funders

• Total spending was $2.4 TRILLION in 2007, or $7900 per person.
• Total health care spending represented 17 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).¹
• Chronic diseases cost the American economy about $1 trillion annually in treatment costs and loss of economic productivity. Projections estimate that this figure could reach $6 trillion by mid-century.
• 20% of Americans have limited or no access to a primary care physician.²
• David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., former U.S. Surgeon General and chair of the National Commission on Prevention Priorities, “Currently, about 95% or health care dollars spent in the US are spent on treating disease,” while, “…the preventive health services offer the biggest bang for the buck.” ³
• By 2023, preventive lifestyle changes -- improved weight management, nutrition, exercise, screening, and smoking cessation – result in national savings estimates of $217 billion annually.

Mobile health clinics reach medically disenfranchised individuals who do not normally have access to primary healthcare in urban and rural settings. These clinics enter communities and provide client-driven screening and preventive care, which help shore up the frayed health care safety net, mitigate reliance on emergency rooms, and often fill in for a lack of care altogether. These clinics also collect valuable data about populations who fall through the cracks of traditional health care delivery; providing curbside surveillance of health trends and often being the first to see emerging health problems.

The Mobile Health Clinic Return on Investment Calculator calculates the cost saved with mobile health clinics outreach and supports strategies to shift investments in health service to providers reaching the most vulnerable and, consequently, most costly populations. Locate clinics on the Mobile Health Map that you can help within the geographic funding areas you support.

Mobile Health Providers & Other Practitioners

The Mobile Health Map is an important tool for existing mobile providers as well as practitioners interested in mobile delivery models for two primary reasons. First, the online calculator’s computations helps to prove that mobile health clinics provide valuable services that often save more money than their operational costs and improve quality of life for their consumers. Second, the network formed through this tool will allow these clinics to communicate and collaborate in order to learn from one another and share the best practices for incorporations in their operations. Ultimately, this will lead to improving health outreach and services across the nation for underserved persons.

For additional information about mobile health clinics and associated resources including start-up assistance, operational best practices, and professional networking, please visit Mobile Health Clinics Network.

1 American Academy of Family Physicians
2 Partnership for Prevention. (2006). New study provides road map to preventive services with greatest health impact, best cost value. Retrieved 27 February, 2009, from http://www.jointogether.org/news/research/pressreleases/2006/new-study-provides-road-map.html
3 National Coalition of Healthcare. http://www.nchc.org/facts/cost.shtml