Here is a sampling of some statistics
- According to Rock Health, the market for health apps is expected to grow from $10 billion in 2015 to $31 billion by 2020
- 69% of clinicians use mobile technology to view patient information, such as laboratory results or digital images
- 3X more physicians are interested in mHealth solutions with clinical value than those that monitor patients
- 50% of physicians in survey use their mHealth technology everyday
- 61% of physicians in survey read or view specialty specific and clinical content on a mobile device
While there are many apps in the app store that aim to help physicians in tasks ranging from making diagnoses to referencing drug information, there is not one single app that does it all.
So, as a busy physician who is on her feet all day long, here is a peek into a physician’s ideal mobile app – sections, features, and the works.
Patient Communication
- Should enable a physician to stay connected with patients
- Secure and handy access to patient records
- Conduct Video chats and video consultations for quick followups
- Ability to remind, cancel and confirm appointments
- Access to medical test reports
- Details on allergies and prior procedures
- Chat option to answer address patient queries, without the need for them to visit the hospital
- Send consultation and recommendation summaries to patients, which is more secure than paper records
- Review readings from patients’ wearables, fitness trackers, and medical devices to get a more comprehensive picture of their health
- Promote healthy lifestyles by educating patients on health tips through app notifications
Diagnosis Assistance
A handy clinical decision support tool
- Review disease symptoms and presentations
- Filter down by criteria like age, gender, location etc
- Ability to share diagnoses with peers
Reference
- Review drug prescribing guidelines and safety information
- Look up medications and dosages information
- Look up potential adverse effects or interactions before prescribing
- Access up-to date information on new drugs
- Share information securely – read HIPAA compliant
- Medical Calculators
- Alternative Medications Information
- Drug Formulary Information
Professional Development
- Log in Continual Professional Development learning
- Medical reference articles
- Set up bookmarks, reminders, course plans
- Set and maintain learning goals
- Collaborate and share with friends and colleagues
- Catalogued procedure videos, podcasts and medical images
Medical /Clinical Trials Information
- Instant access to top medical trials happening
- Ability to sort and filter trails
- Ability to share importance trials
- Succinct descriptions, outcomes and reviews
- Bookmarking for easy retrieval
What’s Trending?
- Repository of trending and new medical research
- Editorial opinions
- Articles sorted by topics
- Ability to purchase / access full text of articles
- Ability to share articles
- Sharing through social networking sites
Social Networking
- A handy easy to access medical professional network
- HIPAA-secure communication,
- Directory of physicians
- Ability to filter by specialization, location
- Private one-on-one chats
- Support groups
- Consulting/ job opportunities
- Career Advice
And finally, Gaming
- Because physicians need to kick back and exercise their grey cells too!
- Competitive games
- Quizzes on medical terms, articles
- Ability to play against other players
- Sharing results on social media
Would it too much to ask for an app to deliver all this? Maybe not! Just reach out to your nearest app developer!
And did I forget to add that it should be available on iOS and Android devices? And the Apple Watch would not hurt either.
Learn more about how mobile apps can help hospitals.Click on the image to download the whitepaper!
