Like all business niches, healthcare is also highly exposed to modern technologies, particularly mobile apps. It is now close to a decade that mobile apps made an intensive entry into the sphere of healthcare services. Now there is a whole array of mobile apps that are increasingly boosting productivity for caregivers and healthcare professionals.
While the impact of these productivity apps in the healthcare sector is going to increase with every passing day, the app developers of the future should learn from opportunities unleashed by these apps and the way they created new possibilities for the entire healthcare sector to embrace technology for better healthcare.
Among the various ways healthcare apps are making positive impacts on the productivity and quality of care, we particularly need to focus on two basic areas. After having a brief discussion on this, we will switch to the examples of a few acclaimed healthcare apps and their respective benefits.
Mobile Apps for Hospital Back Office Management
One of the biggest and most direct beneficiaries of mobile apps in the healthcare sector has been the back offices of hospitals and clinics. There are apps that now can tell instantly whether the hospital IT infrastructure is working properly or not. From the field technicians to lab professionals to the personnel at the reception desk to the back-office medical insurance professionals to the account and inventory management in hospitals and clinics, all have been hugely benefited through mobile apps for back-office management. There are app developers in India and other healthcare sensitive countries who already made massive progress on this.
The best thing about the new breed of HIPAA compliant mobile apps are thoroughly cloud-based apps and not downloaded apps. Naturally, they provide much better security than other common apps.
Cloud-Based Mobile Apps for Patients
While the advent of wearable and mobile apps mainly focused on the excellence of the technology instead of the real user benefits, the latest healthcare apps are more concerned with the actual user contexts and relevant advantages in real-life situations. Some of the common examples of how cloud-based mobile apps for patients help healthcare productivity include the following.
- Instant and absolutely painless blood sugar measurement for chronic illnesses such as diabetes, cardiac problems and hypertension.
- Instant heart monitoring and keeping continuous track of the heart condition.
- Instant and real-time blood examination to find out the most dangerous viruses like the Zika or West Nile that can easily spread disease rapidly.
- AIDs testing to keep track of the disease without any delay.
- DNA testing to create the correct medical profile of the users that can be used further in healthcare communications.
Now that we have seen the Ways healthcare apps really boost productivity, we would like to take a look at some of the most successful healthcare apps that in recent times have become hugely popular among the healthcare fraternity.
Epocrates
This cross-platform app which is available both on iOS and Android comes as free, though you can always go for value-added features of the Epocrates Plus by agreeing to pay $174 per year. It is basically an app for drug manual that doctors and healthcare professionals can consult from time to time. The app also provides detailed information about all over the counter medications and prescription drugs, including the side effects and chemical composition. One helpful feature of this app is to detect any pill even removed from the original package.
UpToDate
This is an iOS-only app for medical professionals that offer detailed images of the body parts and what’s going on inside the body. Apart from viewing the internal state of the body and the organs, the app also offers an array of articles corresponding to various symptoms and health issues. Because of the serious and really helpful stuff, it offers to clients the app comes with a hefty price tag of $495.
CareZone
CareZone is a very helpful app that allows medical professionals and caregivers to have a comprehensive look into the medical history of patients comprising a variety of information. At present, the app is only available for iOS users and comes as free. It makes things easier for the patients and caregivers to keep track of their medicines, dosage and timing with alarms.
Human Anatomy Atlas
Human Anatomy Atlas is particularly addressed to the medical students and all medical professionals who need to consult the anatomical knowledge book for active learning and treatment. All the medical students who find it hard to attend all anatomy classes and courseware may actually fulfil the respective gap of knowledge through this anatomy atlas app. Delivering a wealth of medical information right on your mobile device this app comes at a price of $24.99, which is not very expensive for the students.
The app literally offers detailed lessons and comprehensive images for all internal organs along with all terminologies to help medical students learn anatomy without worrying much about attending their anatomy classes. The learners can also take out a slice of an organ and visually dissect it to pieces to discover the internal elements.
Conclusion
With mobile apps playing such an efficient and valuable role for healthcare establishments and facilities around the world, productivity is very likely to get a solid boost. In healthcare systems and facilities, productivity also refers to quality healthcare than just the number of patients taken care of. This is why the role of mobile apps for healthcare is getting such robust and positive resonance in the industry.
