"Three forces will drive this transformation from fixed to mobile health. First, extreme mobility practicesand new enabling technologies in our pockets and embedded around us will change the way we interact with the world. Second, the century-old industrial health model is poised for change and the rise of extreme mobility is slowly dismantling the antiquated framework. Third, mobile communications and computing devices will become a primary means of accessing information and communicating on the go. Already, the devices we carry with us today-mobile phones, smartphones, PDAs-boast better capabilities than the most powerful desktop computers of the late 1990s, and are connected to a vast web of people and resources as never before. As open mobile ecosystems unleash innovation, the services available on these devices will come to match their raw computational potential.

Moreover, our homes, offices, and public spaces will contain more embedded intelligence, augmenting the sensing, processing, and display capabilities of mobile devices. The convergence of constant connectivity, a decentralizing health care system and extreme mobility will reshape the delivery and provision of health care services extensively."

Source: Liebhold, M., Maguire, R., Townsend A., 2009. Institute for the Future.