Background: Health care providers (HCPs) guide patients and empower them to manage their care; however, patients are becoming more informed from broad-based access to health information. This qualitative study presents HCP perspectives about the value of mobile health technologies to enhance patient-centered care and facilitate trust-building.

Methods: Four 60-minute focus group sessions were conducted with medical doctors, nurses, social workers, behavioral health specialists, and community health workers offering services to patients in safety-net settings. Focused topics evaluated were: 1) role of mobile health tools in supporting health; 2) perceived value of an mHealth clinical practice guide to inform patient care; and 3) perceived role of mobile technology in increasing access for diverse ethnic communities. Provider responses were tape-recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for common themes. The method of analysis was evaluating focus group questions for codewords, codewords were then organized into codeword clusters, and then clusters assessed to derive themes/ concepts. Respondents were offered $75 for participation.

Results: HCPs saw mHealth tools like tracking devices and health apps as valuable for improving data accuracy and treatment delivery; one respondent noted, “We missed something completely and so let’s take a look at that so that I can tailor my treatment to more of the day-to-day instead of what that person is just bringing in on the day that they happen to see me.” A clinical practice guide supporting mHealth practices was welcomed by HCPs with the recommendation that such a guide is interactive, simple to use, and presents research-tested mobile devices ─ “Here is some research behind it, and then that can help them buy in and use it, too.” Finally, HCPs perceived value of mobile health technology when working with ethnically diverse communities; they saw the technology as providing a direct link to the patient and provider, thus building trust and improving relationships.

Conclusion: Health care providers recognize the value of mobile health technologies to advance patient outcomes by helping to improve treatment delivery and supporting patient-provider relationships. Providers support an mHealth clinical practice guide with scientific evidence to support recommendation of mobile health technologies.