Mobile apps have changed the way we live, work, communicate, travel, play, and eat. Like all other industries, they are also changing the entire global healthcare system. Mobile Apps are playing an important role in making healthcare service more reliable & effective and also giving users an opportunity to take fitness seriously. These applications are making healthcare service more efficient & cost effective.
Patient-doctor interaction plays a very vital role in healthcare delivery. The challenge comes when doctors have to monitor patients remotely. However, technology made these things possible & distance is no more a constraint. Many healthcare professionals are going for mobile application as it is helping them to reach their patients anytime, anywhere as well as it smoothens the operations and reduces cost & time of the hospitals and clinics.
This blog examines how mobile applications and technologies are transforming healthcare, and looks at the effects mobile and related technologies will have on patients, doctors, hospitals, developers and IT companies.
Healthcare Applications
- There are total 100000+ healthcare and fitness applications available for both mobile & tablets.
- It’s been estimated that the global healthcare mobile app market will reach USD 26 billion by 2017.
- More than 20% of the smartphone users have at least one healthcare app on their mobile (In between age group of 18-29). This number will touch 50% by the end of 2018.
- 40% doctors believe that mobile apps can reduce patient clinic visits significantly. More than 30% doctors are using mobile applications to reach their patients. These numbers above are more than enough to indicate the impact healthcare mobile applications have in the industry.
Optimum Care, Best Treatment
Mobile health apps let you provide the best treatment with optimum care, anywhere and anytime. It allows advanced patient care tools which can enhance the overall quality of treatment & control the entire process. It gives an opportunity to increase the communication between doctor & patient.
Quick Response
Doctors can monitor patient’s condition and respond quickly. They can keep the record of patient’s health history, update care plan & allocate medicines, send/receive reports and maintain communication.
Reduce Complexity
Mobile apps allow doctors to keep and retrieve health information of any patient in an easier way. It saves time for both doctors & patients as all the past health records of the patient can be quickly checked through the app.
It makes the entire process hassle free. Patients’ can get reports, medicine lists, appointment status on their mobile.
Appointment Scheduling
Patients can book an appointment for themselves through the application. It helps doctors to organize their schedule perfectly and they can give proper attention to their patients. Any change in schedule, from both sides, can be done through the app.
Increase Reach
Personalized apps will allow increasing the reach by approaching more and more patients in numerous ways. You can support your work by sending push notifications, updates, new service info, navigating patients to your clinic.
What are the Obstacles?
Use of mobile applications in the healthcare industry is rapidly increasing, but there are few obstacles which are blocking the road. The main concern is data security. Privacy & security are the biggest challenges & the fear of losing personal health information are a matter of concern for the patients.
Lack of technological exposure is another concern. Technical difficulty is a major constraint. All doctors/patients are not technically savvy. So sometimes they prefer to follow the traditional way of medical treatment.
Above all, the most important roadblock is the increased cost in the healthcare industry. Medical treatment has become very expensive. So the associated cost is also increasing simultaneously.
Mobile Apps for Providers
Physicians have long been early adopters. They usually start using a new technology as soon as it comes. Research shows as soon as Apple launched iPad, 30% of the physicians owned it. Mobile applications or technologies are being used by 90% of the healthcare service providers in their day to day life. Almost 85% of them use mobile applications to help their patients. They use mobile technology basically to improve the results, cost reduction, smooth operation, and improve efficiency.
Doctors are using mobile applications to decrease the gap between latest healthcare trends, new treatment methods, and their patients. They are using mobile technology & integrating it with data analytics to improve patient outcomes by delivering better decision support to healthcare professionals by allowing them to identify the best possible treatment information.
Mobile applications also allow better collaboration among the various department of a healthcare service provider. Coordination of a patient’s overall healthcare is very important. Mobility technology improves overall workflow & it reduces time & cost, as well as improves productivity.
Mobile Apps for Patients
Mobile apps hold great promise for patients. It helps them adhere to medication regimens, manage their health conditions, manage their cost associated with healthcare, medical information management, appointment setting with doctors, medicine inquiry etc. In 2015 around 70 million health applications were downloaded. 28% of the people are using mobile applications to track their health condition.
An online poll suggested people who frequently use the internet found that more than 60% want to use apps to book appointments, interact with a doctor, get reports, medicine prescription etc. A same number of people also desire to keep a track of their health condition like high blood pressure etc.
Healthcare tips via mobile applications are the huge hit. Many people are following these tips to keep them healthy.
Other apps allow patients to access their medical records, communicate remotely with healthcare providers, manage medications, and more. Many of these apps will likely be made available through health insurance plans, physician practices, and hospitals to help optimize the health and care of members and patients.
Patients are likely to be one of the most important drivers of mobile health solutions because they expect the health system to be accessible via mobile just as other parts of the economy are.
Demand for healthcare mobile applications is increasing day by day as both healthcare service providers and patients need it. Apogaeis is a specialized healthcare mobile application developer. If you have any healthcare idea or want to minimize the distance between you & your patients, let’s discuss it. Together we can change the healthcare sector & can transform the service. Contact our expert here
