Mobile Health Screening: 5 Things You Should Know

The state of your health can be a deceptive affair. Many of the most serious health problems for which you may be at highest risk - such as stroke, heart disease, abdominal aortic aneurysm, peripheral artery disease and osteoporosis - often show no symptoms until it is too late. Facing a painful, costly health incident due to any one of these conditions can potentially mean becoming a burden to your family in terms of money and time.

Many serious health conditions are preventable if detected early. A failure to get screened can lead to life-long health-related and financial problems, including the possibility of being bed-ridden or functioning at far less than 100% in terms of mental and physical capacity. Serious incidents, such as stroke, can also lead to a lifetime burden on family members who would have to take care of the victim, if they do survive the stroke.

Mobile health screening is a health service introduced only in recent years. It involves an expert team of health technicians and board-certified medical doctors working together to run a series of screening tests to check for the presence of such asymptomatic and serious diseases. As an emerging field, however, many people are still unaware of how mobile health screening works or what it is.

Here are 5 things you should know about mobile health screening:

1. "Mobile" means that screening locations are always changing

Mobile health screenings are "mobile" for two reasons. First, the actual team of technicians travels to the site of a screening event in a specially-equipped vehicle that contains all of the necessary screening equipment. Second, the locations of the events themselves are always changing. That said, screening teams consistently operate out of the same local geographic community from day to day and week to week. Therefore, community members can attend repeated screenings over time without having to travel far.

2. Screenings are held in convenient locations in the community

Mobile health screening events are held in a variety of locations. Churches, community centers, public buildings, gyms and even libraries can serve as a forum for a particular event. Events are planned weeks or months in advance to allow individuals to select an event that most conveniently fits their time and location. Many participants appreciate that the screening events are located in facilities they are familiar with, instead of a doctor's office or clinic.

3. Screenings cover multiple types of diseases

A number of serious and potentially life-threatening diseases can be screened for. Examples include stroke, heart disease, abdominal aortic aneurysm, peripheral artery disease and osteoporosis. In order to detect stroke risk, for example, the recipient's carotid arteries are screened for blockages. Meanwhile, screening for heart-related conditions might involve an examination of arterial stiffness or a recipient's peripheral arteries using special detection equipment.

4. Mobile health screenings are non-invasive and painless

The procedures are completely non-invasive and painless. No needles are used, and recipients are not required to spend time in tight or confined spaces. One of the tools used is ultrasound. This procedure employs similar techniques to those used by doctors to check the pre-natal condition of babies in the womb. The benefit to using ultrasound for screening, over x-ray or CT scan, is that ultrasound does not emit radiation. It is well documented that one CT scan can be equivalent to 300-500 regular x-rays.

5. Screening results can be evaluated by doctors

Screening events take about an hour. Once completed, the recipient simply returns to work, goes home, or otherwise continues about their day. Meanwhile, the results are analyzed by board-certified medical doctors. The doctors provide relevant comments that can be clearly understood by a layperson. When picking a mobile screening company, it is important to pick a company that provides all your images and detailed results back to you promptly so that you can provide them to your own physician upon your next visit.

Mobile health screening is a breakthrough innovation that combines the convenience of locally-accessible events with top-notch, doctor-reviewed screenings that are also inexpensive and painless. Most importantly, the events allow people to find out and potentially drastically reduce their risk of a facing serious and expensive medical incident for as little as $200.