Medical Mobile Apps: Building the Future of Digital Healthcare Block by Block
The emphasis on how technology has greatly penetrated into our day-to-day lives cannot be made enough. Both, our daily routine and the technologically driven world have merged into one. Take into account the Healthcare industry. These organizations are incessantly harnessing the power of intelligent technologies in order to deliver personalized, efficient and well-informed care. However, as the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility, in the same manner, this innovation comes with a sense of responsibility.
One needs to establish trust and responsibility in people for them to get complete full benefits of digitally enabled healthcare.
What are ‘medical’ apps?
Smartphones or mobiles have rapidly integrated into clinical practice, that too in a short span of time. The key reason behind this is the rising availability and quality of medical software applications and rapid healthcare app development. Healthcare and medicine is a field which requires quick decision making, prompt responses, and immediate attention. Thanks to faster processors, improved memory, smaller batteries, and highly efficient open-source operating systems, the development of a flood of medical mobile device apps that serve for both, professional and personal use has flooded the market.
Today, healthcare professionals have the ability and resources to download medical apps on mobile devices that provide mobile clinical resources available at their disposal. And, these apps serve tons of different purposes, from electronic prescribing to diagnosis and treatment, practice management, coding and billing and e-learning.
There are apps that even contain a good amount of information to assist with answering clinical practice and other questions at the point of care. These queries include drug reference guides, medical calculators, clinical guidelines and other decision support aids, textbooks, and literature search portals.
Some mobile apps are even capable of simulating surgical procedures or can conduct simple medical exams, such as hearing or vision tests.
What are the major uses and benefits of mobile apps for healthcare professionals
These apps, as mentioned earlier, come with a myriad of benefits and different uses. All of these apps have been designed for different skill sets and different purpose.
Management of Information and segmentation
- Write notes for references
- Dictate notes when necessary
- Record audio on-the-go
- Take photographs
- Organize information and images
- Refer e-books when required
- Access cloud services
Time Management
- Schedule appointments with patients
- Schedule meetings with colleagues and management
- Record call schedule
Access and maintenance of health records
- Access EHRs and EMRs
- Access images and scans whenever required from any place
- Electronic prescribing via the cloud
- Coding and billing on-the-go
Online communications and consultation
- Voice and video calling with patients
- Texting and email for immediate assistance
- Multimedia messaging
- Social networking
Clinical Decision-Making
- Clinical decision support systems
- Clinical treatment guidelines
- Disease diagnosis aids
Patient Monitoring
- Monitor patient health online through connected devices
- Monitor patient location 24/7
- Monitor patient rehabilitation
- Collect clinical data
- Monitor heart function for critical issues
Education and Training
- Constant medical education
- Knowledge assessment tests
- Case studies
- E-learning and teaching
- Surgical simulation
- Skill assessment tests
Conclusion
Already the medical devices and apps are invaluable tools for healthcare professionals. And with the expanding features, these devices and apps will become even more widely incorporated into nearly every aspect of clinical practice. These apps are not made for standalone functionality, they are also designed to support the current medical software. The current ecosystem of mobile app development services has given a boost to healthcare apps, benefitting both the patients as well as healthcare professionals.
