Smartphones are now common in healthcare settings and we have seen an instant growth in the healthcare applications development for different platforms.
Many different types of mobile applications are available for healthcare professionals to do essential tasks like maintaining patients’ records, communications and consulting, patient management and monitoring, medical education and training, and so on.
The most significant advantage offered by mobile devices and applications is that they allow access to point-of-care tools that enable healthcare professionals to support better clinical decision making and patient outcomes.
The healthcare industry needs to to establish better standards and validation practices about mobile apps in order to ensure the proper use and integration of such tools into medical practice. Implementing such measures will raise the bars for the medical app market, enhance app quality, and increase the safety of using such applications by professionals.
5 ways mobile technology is transforming healthcare
1. Enhanced patient safety
One of the best things about digital applications is that they can give patients tools to manage their own health. Today, no one can remember each and every thing discussed during a doctor visit, but people can add details from these conversations in their personal app and gain a huge advance regarding patient safety.
2. New business models
The explosion of inbound data from sensors and devices offers healthcare professionals new possibilities for patient care. However, healthcare business models are not well suited for systems that bring in an influx of patient data. Managing all of this inbound data could be done by new companies that focus on data management.
There are many call centers staffed with nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals who can manage and respond to all of this inbound data. Additionally, digital health apps allow providers to handle and coordinate patient care in difficult environments.
3. Superior access to care
In this digital era, patients and doctors no longer need to always be in the same location. Patients with chronic diseases, living in rural areas, or with limited local access to doctors can get treatment on time with ease thanks to mobile health technology.
4. Minimize Medicare fraud
Medicare is concerned about the potential for an explosion of costs from digital interactions because of the increased patient access to care. Medical applications can reduce about 60% of fraud and increase profit to healthcare centers. The reason is because digital applications enable healthcare professionals to track people and transactions in effective time. Medicare can acquire location and time data from these digital health apps in order to check for fraud.
5. Better patient engagement
Long lines, poor service quality, complexity, and other factors discourage patients from engaging more with the healthcare system. Many of these factors are unnecessary. Why should you wait for doctors in their clinic? Applications can notify patients in real time via text if a physician is running late, or remind them that it’s time to take their pills. Apps can help people reduce difficulty.
3 advantages of mobile devices and apps
1. Convenience
Mobile applications give healthcare professionals the convenience of flexible communication, portability, rapid access to information, and other things. Now healthcare professionals don’t have to carry reference books around because they can access information through mobile devices.
2. Better clinical decision making
Mobile devices integrated with medical applications become invaluable tools to support clinical decision making, including supporting the practice of evidence-based medicine, at the point of care. Mobile applications can provide information about disease diagnosis and management from medical textbooks and other clinical evidence. Additionally, they can help pharmacists with instant access to medical references and multiple drug information sources.
3. Increased efficiency
Mobile devices can enhance the wholeness and precision of patient documentation. They can enable more accurate diagnostic coding, documentation of side effects, and attention to medication safety, all of which can minimize medical errors.
It can also be easier and more effective for doctors to prepare high-quality clinical documentation, including detailed descriptions of clinical findings and proper progress assessments, on a mobile device versus using paper records.
Future trends for mobile devices and apps in healthcare
There will be many predictions about trends in the use of mobile devices and apps. However, applications must help achieve the ultimate goal of the healthcare system: prevention and management of chronic health conditions like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
Patient care management and compliance is complex and applications can successfully address these issues. An application that enables excellent communication among physicians, patients, and other resources will be recognized as an important asset.
Many healthcare app developers are building remarkable applications that consider future needs. If you are planning to develop mobile apps for healthcare, make sure to include larger databases and clinical decision support prompts that help in clinical decision making.
