I think it's reasonable to say we're only just realizing how much of a game changer the smart phone can be. By combining computer, camera, sound, and Internet in one small package it opens up new possibilities. One of them seems to be health care. Federal Computer Weekly has posts on using smart phones for general outreach, for remote dermatology and for mental health. Now much of this is probably boys with toys seeing nails everywhere to use their new hammers on, but out of many ideas will come some worthwhile innovations.
Obviously one of the big holdbacks for this is geezerdom: us old folks who haven't bought a smart phone yet and who generally are technologically backward. What's worse is there's probably a high correlation between lack of adoption and iffy health. (Though maybe not, I think I remember seeing that adoption of cell phones is higher among minorities. So maybe it's the old WASP geezers in the hills of Appalachia like those I grew up amongst who are most resistant.)
One of the big advantages would be outsourcing the emergency room. See Megan McArdle's post I referenced here.
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