The Necessity of Mobile Apps in the Healthcare Industry

“Health is Wealth” is an extensively used proverb in our day to day lives. The mobile app technology has brought about a significant transformation in almost all industries.

So, how can the healthcare industry lack behind? Medical science has traveled a long way, and with new research and medical advancement, it has given hopes to many ailing people across the globe.

From a recent research study, it has been found that by the year 2020, healthcare industry applications will become the second largest revenue generator, reaching $90.49 billion. However, unlike mobile apps for other industries, healthcare applications need to strictly abide by the regulations laid down by the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).

Key Highlights of Healthcare Apps

Healthcare apps are categorized on the basis of their specific features and their area of functions. Below is the list of features that will help you know how healthcare apps are proving to be a lifesaving technology.

• Interconnection with one another – For various clinical monitoring, there are available different types of health-based apps. For instance, you will find apps that help in the proper diagnosis of certain diseases while there are others that keep a check on the heart rate and blood sugar level of the patient. All of these apps should be highly integrated and robustly linked to each other.
• Record all vital parameters easily – Another advantage of health-based apps is that they keep track of all the important parameters of the patient such as his blood pressure, sugar level and body temperature. They can be easily accessed without facing any hiccups.
• Keep track of the work shifts – As we all know that hospital staff members, such as nurses and doctors, work in shifts and mobile apps can help the supervisor to maintain this record. A mobile app can keep track of the different shifts of each staff, thereby allowing the head to assign the duties accordingly.
• Booking an appointment with a doctor – There are apps that allow you to find doctors in your area and fix appointment immediately.
• Locating a hospital near your location – Most of the clinics, hospitals and other health-related apps have an in-built feature of GPS technology. This makes it easier for the person to reach the nearest hospital in no time in case of critical cases such as road accident or cardiac arrest.

Why Mobile Apps are a Necessity in the Healthcare Industry?

In the recent years, the demand for mobile applications has increased in several industries. Mobile apps have helped various sectors and organizations to improve their profits and clientèle. Similarly, the healthcare industry has been revolutionized by the mobile technology as it has changed the way health care services are provided to patients. Mobile applications have enabled healthcare providers to quickly take care of the medical emergencies and serve patients better and more efficiently.

Applications have also become an integral part of doctor’s practices. With the help of a mobile app, doctors can not only prescribe medicines but also view X-Ray or blood reports or keep track of the patient’s recovery. Mobile apps have also enabled doctors to diagnose, treat and monitor many common diseases virtually from anywhere, anytime.

Earlier, healthcare service providers were completely dependent on printed materials to refer to patient information or prescribe medicine. But, with the emergence of mobile apps in the healthcare sector, the world of inbound patients is undergoing many changes.

Here are the reasons why doctors and healthcare providers are looking for mobile apps:

1. Mobile apps help to get access to care immediately – There was a time when doctors used to make a home visit to diagnose and treat patients – these have now become the thing of the past. Now, these home visits have been replaced by digital visits. A healthcare app allows patients to instantly locate doctors in their area, schedule an appointment or book audio/video chat within a matter of seconds.

In these interactive medical apps, the patients can also ask general health questions to the doctors, without booking an appointment or paying a charge. However, after a question or two, you might have to upgrade your account. Such mobile apps even help physicians to stay in touch with their patients. Virtual interaction is a bliss for elderly people who in most cases cannot be rushed to the hospital quickly.

2. Mobile apps let providers establish a new business model – Practice of using referrals or making door to door visits to establish a good relationship with the patients has become outdated. With the emergence of smartphones and the advancement in the mobile technology, now healthcare service providers can attract new customers and provide advanced services to existing customers, without any hassle.

For instance, RefferalIMD – a HIPPA compliant mobile app – is a cloud-based referral management system that can replace all the traditional referral methods. The app enables doctors to write a resourceful referral. It can also cater to the needs of a large number of patients looking for information digitally. Also, healthcare organizations have a chance to promote themselves to new patients looking for online healthcare services and retain the existing ones with new services.

3. Mobile apps facilitate effective patient-doctor communication – Most of the time, patients find it difficult to interact with a doctor because of language barrier. These days, mobile apps have a feature that instantly translates the concerns and queries raised by the patient in the language they prefer. This significant step in the healthcare app development allows doctors and patients to interact with each other across the globe in their native language or any language of their choice.

This reduces the expense of hiring translators. Do not feel scared that your data will be leaked or it is not at all safe. The health apps allow patients and doctors to securely interact with each other. The doctor can now connect with patients, share medical information, reports and exchange text messages digitally. Doctors can also use mobile apps for internal communication or for viewing lab reports.

 Future of Mobile Apps in the Healthcare Industry

With each passing day, the business circumference of the healthcare industry is expanding. Hospitals, doctors, healthcare providers and pharmaceutical companies are moving towards mobile technology in order to provide more patient-centered services. Nowadays, hospitals send notifications to the patients if they are offering any special discount on any test and diagnosis. Sometimes, they organize special camps for specific health-related issues, either free of cost or at a discounted price.

Source Soft Solutions is a leading mobile app development services company, specializing in the development of a wide variety of mobile applications. Our experienced mobile app developers while developing any healthcare app make sure that they design and develop a simple User Interface which is easy to use, and incorporate several features such as GPS to locate the nearest hospital or clinic. And lastly, all the mobile apps that we develop are secure and scalable.

In coming years, mobile apps in the healthcare industry will allow patients to locate nearby doctors or hospital, schedule an appointment, monitor the side effects of medication, analyze health reports and do much more. These healthcare applications will bring transformation in the way patients and doctors engage with each other. Healthcare apps will lead to quick decisions, accurate treatment, and improvement in health.

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