Overview
ISO/TR 19231:2014 - "Health informatics - Survey of mHealth projects in low and middle income countries (LMIC)" is a Technical Report from ISO/TC 215 that surveys national mHealth projects, use cases and interoperable frameworks applicable to resource‑constrained settings. It focuses on mHealth solutions and information & communication technologies (ICT) that are practical for LMICs, including emerging approaches such as zero‑configuration and proximity computing where conventional ICT infrastructure is limited.
Key topics and technical considerations
- mHealth use cases documented and classified:
- Education & awareness, remote data collection, remote monitoring
- Communication and training for healthcare workers
- Disease and epidemic outbreak tracking
- Diagnostics and treatment support (plus WHO-reported use cases: telemedicine, reminders, surveillance, decision support, patient records)
- Technologies and infrastructure focus:
- Mobile/SMS‑based systems, SIM‑based services, PDAs and smartphones
- Low‑infrastructure approaches: zero‑configuration services, proximity computing
- Integration with existing hospital/health information systems (HIS)
- Interoperability and architecture survey:
- Review of existing eHealth frameworks and suitability for mHealth in LMICs
- Consideration of service models, confidentiality, data exchange and identifiers
- Practical implementation factors:
- Usability in low‑resource settings, language/localization, staff training, duplication of data entry, and scalability
- Non‑normative guidance rather than prescriptive requirements:
- This Technical Report is informational; it surveys projects and frameworks rather than specifying mandatory standards.
Practical applications
- Planning and scoping national or regional mHealth programs in LMICs
- Selecting suitable technologies where ICT infrastructure is limited (e.g., SMS, zero‑config)
- Evaluating interoperability options to integrate mHealth with existing HIS
- Identifying relevant mHealth use cases (telemedicine, remote monitoring, outbreak tracking)
- Informing policy makers, donors, NGOs and implementers about real‑world project examples and common challenges
Who will use this document
- National health ministries and public‑health planners in LMICs
- mHealth program managers, solution architects and ICT planners
- NGOs, donors, and international organisations (WHO, UN)
- Health informatics researchers and standards developers
- Vendors building interoperable, low‑resource mobile health solutions
Related standards
- ISO 14639 (all parts) - eHealth framework components
- ISO 12967 (HISA) - Health Informatics Service Architecture
- HL7 Services‑Aware Interoperability Framework (SAIF)
- Standards Australia Handbooks 137, 138
Keywords: ISO TR 19231:2014, mHealth, low and middle income countries, LMIC, health informatics, interoperability, zero configuration, proximity computing, mobile health, telemedicine, remote monitoring.