Mobile Healthcare Apps

Smartphone apps have a high rate of dropouts with 26% being used only once and 74% being discontinued by the tenth use. A CHIC survey shows that the availability of a better app (34.4%) and lack of user friendliness (32.6%) are the top reasons for discontinuation of smartphone apps.  However what the survey isn’t showing is that some people do not like to be reminded that they have a health condition that needs monitoring.

The mobile and “apps” market has been growing rapidly and steadily for the past few years. With the introduction of the iPad in 2010, the tablet market is gaining attention as product value soars in many industries. Health and pharmaceuticals is one of those industries openly accepting the mobile and tablet takeover as these devices and their “apps” bring added benefit and new innovative solutions. In a follow up to last week’s post,Arithmos discusses the market and how devices are being integrated. 

The pharmaceutical industry has been embracing these markets for several reasons. One of the biggest reasons is patient compliance. Patients want the “WOW Factor ” – the digital and personalized experience.

Devices such as tablets and smartphones can cut clinical trial costs as well. Setting up desktops or laptops, or even printing paper, can be more expensive than simply downloading information on a device. Using these devices also allows patients to just send information via click or an IM/SMS. With the installation of  ”apps”, medical information can be downloaded instantly by doctors or Investigators.

Apple launches dedicated 'Apps for Healthcare Professionals' collection

Just three years since its launch date Apple's iPad can be credited for changing the face of modern healthcare in many ways

BYOD

The iPad has also sparked a new BYOD trend in the healthcare arena, giving physicians and healthcare executives the ability to work efficiently on a device of their choice. Famed for its usability the iPad has also encourage many physicians to engage with online tools, making patient communication much more efficient. 

Mass App Uptake

The birth of the iPad has also led to a huge increase in the number of mHealth apps. Before, healthcare professionals and executives had limited access to a small number of software solutions, which were accessible from either a desktop or laptop computer only. Today, solutions from EHR to financing, HR to medical information can all be accessed on the move and synced with a number of different devices.

Healthcare In The Cloud

As the iPad has risen in popularity so has the popularity of cloud-based mHealth apps and software solutions. Many hospitals and healthcare institutions now store important information securely in the cloud, so it is accessible from a number of portable devices both on and off site. This level of accessibility – while it comes with its own set of security concerns - has proven to be hugely beneficial in the healthcare sector.

Mobile Healthcare

As well as sharing information, accessing healthcare records and interacting with patients, the iPad has also facilitated a number of innovative patient / doctor communication systems that have helped save time, money and resources within the sector, namely the iRobot and virtual doctors offices, that allow patients to communicate with doctors face to face whilst being in different locations. This technology has also made dramatic improvements to healthcare facilities in rural locations and developing countries.

For most of time medicine was a guessing game. Doctors, or witch doctors, or shaman would inspect a patient, stir a potion and hope it would work. With some notable exceptions, modern medicine isn't so different. The data collection—blood pressure, heart rate, weight, reflexes—is largely rudimentary. We're getting by, but technology can take us so much further.

Even technology that fits in your pocket.

In the past year or two (or three) iPhones and iPads have been a fixture in doctors' offices around the world. Why carry a clipboard when you could pull up records via Wi-Fi and type the information directly into the patient's medical record? Perhaps even more powerful is the idea that these devices can be collecting data all the time.

Smartphones are incredibly powerful tools for anything as simple as data mining to something so sophisticated as measuring a patient's sleeping pattern. There are apps that can help regulate your mental health, apps that can help you keep track of what and how much you eat. There are apps that can take your blood pressure and you blood sugar. There are even apps that help you cope with aging.

While an app can't cure a disease, some of the newer, more experimental medical apps can do truly extraordinary things. This technology can not only help you feel better; it can prevent illness by spotting symptoms early on.