The next lesson we can glean from history, in Ostherr's perspective, pertains to joining together entertainment with public health. 

 

Take the case of the World Health Organization, for instance, which back in the 1940s through the 1960s was co-producing public health films with European films studios. Their focus was on alcoholism, clean water and heroine addiction, among others, in low income settings. What they did proved novel for its time. WHO created animated public health films. 

 

"They found it incredibly appealing, so much so that it was often hard for the health promoters to tell whether the people showing up wanted to know about health or because they wanted some free entertainment," explained Ostherr. 

 

So, history definitely offers lessons, but a deeper understanding of the current mHealth landscape also proves integral, said Greenspun.  

 

One element more unique to the current state of mobile health is the introduction of error, said Greenspun, who asked the audience how many people used a mobile app to deposit a check. Most of them raised their hands. 

 

OK, now how many of those people actually destroy their check immediately after they deposit their check? he asked. One person among hundreds raised her hand. "Living dangerously," joked Greenspun. But, most often, "people are just afraid it's not going to work," he said. 

 

"That's fine if you're depositing a check and you wait a couple days and see if it clears or not," he added. "If your phone is controlling your insulin pump or your defibrillator, maybe you have some concerns. If your signal drops, do you just die? Not really sure." And that's something that needs to develop and prove itself for more people to be onboard. 

 

For Greenspun, the key to a successful business landscape is acknowledging first the demographics and infrastructure, and of course the disease dynamic, but also the policy and reimbursement framework. "If the interests aren't aligned, there's no reason people will adopt these things."