Healthcare Goes Mobile in Japan

While there’s gobs of money being made with mail, ring tones, screen savers, mobile coupons, Hello Kitty downloads, and other wireless entertainment services, at least one startup is trying to bring a little mobile convenience to a hitherto largely unexploited area: the burgeoning healthcare market. If you’ve got a chronic disease (think diabetes) that requires hour-to-hour management for issues such as dietary intake, calorie counting, or vital sign monitoring and input, Tokyo-based Mobile Healthcare Inc. thinks that using your keitai is an obvious solution. But the challenges include not only technology and patient education, but also convincing Japan’s hidebound, ultraconservative health system that mobicare makes sense. Full Program Run-time 13:18