How Healthcare Mobile App Development Services is Changing Patient Care ?

Sep 23, 2020

What are mHealth Apps?

Everyone knows what eHealth is – the practice of using computers, emails, satellite communications, and monitors in the Healthcare industry. Similarly, the practice of using mobile devices, tablets, personal digital assistants, or remote computers is called mHealth.

Mobile App developers work side-by-side with healthcare professionals to develop mobile apps that help them with better diagnosis, internal coordination, patient monitoring, etc. They also design apps that empower patients to maintain their health and fitness, interact with a medical professional remotely, and manage their chronic illnesses. These apps are called mHealth Apps.

Rise of mHealth Apps

People now have a very pro-active approach to their health. Not only are people mindful of taking precautions to stay healthy, but they also seek immediate medical attention in case of any spike in their health. mHealth Apps give them the power to do both and more.

Be it for tracking their health metrics, making doctor appointments, ordering medicines, or following experts on fitness and mental health, people prefer the mHealth technology over the lack thereof. For instance, when surveyed, nearly 50% of the people said they prefer immediate, virtual appointments over in-person visits.

This has led to a consistent rise in mHealth Apps – almost 200 new mHealth Apps get added to the app store every day. In fact, in a recent study, almost 80% of doctors were found to be using mHealth Apps in their day-to-day operations. This is because they strongly believe that adopting mHealth Apps helps facilitate better patient care.

Case in point – healthcare professionals have found that having easy and immediate access to a patient’s vitals and reports on mobile devices has helped them make a quicker and more accurate patient diagnosis and treatment plans in an emergent situation.

Types of mHealth Apps

mHealth Apps have two types of users – Healthcare Professionals and Healthcare Consumers. Depending on what purpose it serves to each, mHealth Apps can be divided into 6 broad categories which are listed below along with their key features:

Clinical Assistance in Diagnosis

• Symptom Checkers
• Digital imaging (MRI/X-Raying viewing abilities)
• Electronic Chart Review
• Lab Results Review

Remote Monitoring

• LifeScan for Patients with Diabetes
• Remote Heart Monitoring
• ECG Viewer
• Oxygen Level Check

Productivity Apps

• Remote Dictation
• Surgery Scheduling
• Interoffice Communication

Health & Fitness

• Healthy Diet & Weight Loss
• Exercise and Fitness
• Pregnancy and Baby Development
• Mental Health Assistance

Reminders & Alerts

• Prescription Management
• Appointment Reminders
• Women’s Calendar

Connection to Doctor

• Doctor’s Appointment
• Virtual Consultation

Benefits to Healthcare Professionals

93% of today’s physicians said using mobile technology for diagnosis, treatment, and patient records helps in improved patient care. Below are some of the major benefits reaped by healthcare professionals after having used mHealth Apps:

1. Enhanced Internal Coordination

With mHealth Apps, healthcare professionals benefit from streamlined processes between various departments, labs, and administrative staff. For instance, the nurses can be automatically and immediately notified of any changes in the treatment plan or medication dosage via the app as soon as the doctor updates the information from his end without the need for a face-to-face conversation or an opportunity for misunderstanding.

2. Enhanced Physician Efficiency

mHealth Apps have an easy-to-use interface and provide healthcare professionals easy access to all patient history, real-time health metrics, and current medication. It even notifies them as and when any patient reports are sent by the lab or when there is any spike in the patient’s vitals. With all this information at the tip of their fingers, it makes for easy and accurate diagnosis as it eliminates the possibility of errors by physicians under work stress.

3. Enhanced Remote Healthcare

Doctors can now practice medicine without seeing the patient. With mHealth app features like diagnostic tools, live chat, and video calling, doctors can do virtual consultation for mildly symptomatic patients and treat them at home. Doctors can also provide consultations in areas where medical professionals and facilities may be scarce as far as the ailing patients have access to the Mobile Apps.

4. Enhanced Real-Time Communication

Using mHealth Apps, doctors can engage in real-time global collaboration, consultation, and information exchange. This is vital because it not only allows patients to access healthcare from specialists anywhere in the world but it also allows doctors to train and share knowledge about the latest discoveries and new techniques in real-time.

Benefits to Healthcare Consumers

According to a recent survey, 75% of the general population strongly believes that mobile apps can help them manage their health better. Below are some of the major benefits healthcare consumers can reap by regularly using mHealth Apps:

1. Easy Access to Personal Health Monitoring

Personal health monitoring apps allow people to check and record critical health initials like cholesterol level, heartbeat, blood sugar level, blood pressure level, and more. There are also apps that track the sleeping cycle, steps walked, calories burnt, etc. They do these things automatically with minimal to no human interference. The purpose of this is to practice self-discipline and implement healthy lifestyle changes if and when necessary.

2. Easy Access to a Healthy Lifestyle

mHealth Apps for fitness, diet, or weight loss programs are some of the most basic apps used by people to attain a healthier lifestyle. But people can also use mental health improvement apps that use AI assistants, mental health tools, and exercises which have proven to be quite impactful in the long run. Food Journals, Mood Journals, and Fitness Journals are also featured that some mHealth Apps have which encourages a healthy lifestyle.

3. Easy Access to Medical Facilities

There are many apps online that allow people to review and compare doctors or clinics before choosing one. People can book the doctor’s appointments on those apps or also on the clinic’s mHealth app. They can easily access their lab results, medical prescriptions, and medical bills in the same app.

4. Easy Access to Online Payment

Healthcare Mobile Apps developed specifically by healthcare facilities have an online payment feature. There may be an option to select from multiple plans or a feature to be notified as and when a bill is due. Just like with any other industry, people no longer need to wait in long lines to pay their medical bills.

Conclusion

Considering the plethora of advantages mHealth Apps have, it is not surprising that both doctors and patients have successfully integrated it into their daily lives. But despite there being so many apps in the market, not all are successful. With the Healthcare Mobile App market predicted to grow to USD 111.1 billion by 2025, make sure you invest in the right Mobile App Development Service to make your mark.

To know more about how Aiwa Digital can help you make the perfect mHealth App, send us a message at info@aiwa.digital, or you can contact us directly by visiting https://aiwadigital.com/contact-us/.