Numerous parts of clinical practice have been altered as a result of healthcare professionals’ usage of mobile devices. Mobile devices have become ubiquitous in healthcare settings, resulting in a surge in the creation of medical software applications (apps) for these platforms. There are now numerous apps available to help healthcare professionals with a variety of important tasks, including time management, health record access, communications & consulting, reference & evidence gathering, patient monitoring, management clinical management, and medical learning and training.
Mobile devices and applications offer numerous advantages to healthcare professionals, the most notable of which is expanded access to point-of-care tools, which have been found to assist in better clinical decision-making and patient experience. However, some healthcare professionals are still hesitant to utilize them. Regardless of the benefits they provide, improved standards and validation methods for mobile medical applications are required to enable correct usage and integration of these increasingly complex tools into medical practice. These initiatives will raise the entry barrier into the medical app market, hence improving the quality and safety of the apps now accessible for usage by healthcare professionals.
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The Concept Of mHealth!
mHealth is a paradigm centered on the use of wireless technologies and handheld devices to promote a healthier life, particularly serious medical attention. Among the most common examples are different kinds of healthcare apps designed to aid in the control of a person’s physical wellness.
Medical Applications Of Mobile Apps In The Health Sector
The demand for enhanced data and communication tools at the point of care has been a primary motivator driving the broad adoption of mobile devices by healthcare professionals. In an ideal world, healthcare professionals would have access to a wide range of resources in a healthcare context, including:
- Communication features include voice calling, video calls, text messaging, and e-mail.
- Electronic health records, electronic medical records, clinical decision support systems, picture archiving and communication systems, and laboratory information systems are all instances of hospital information systems.
- Textbooks, recommendations, medical journals, and pharmacological references are instances of informational resources.
- Medical software applications include disease diagnosis software and medical simulators.
Early in the development of mobile devices, these resources were primarily delivered by fixed computers, which do not facilitate mobility in healthcare settings. To answer this demand, several healthcare facilities set up portable, wireless mobile information stations known as Computers on Wheels (COWs) or Workstations on Wheels (WOWs) (WOWs). However, with the availability of mobile devices, clinicians now have a wealth of data readily available via their tablets and cell phones.
Utilization Of Mobile Apps By Health Care Providers
Medical devices and apps are used by healthcare professionals for a variety of purposes, the majority of which can be classified into five broad categories: administration, patient records maintenance and access, communications, and advisory services, reference and data gathering, and clinical research. The numerous applications for mobile devices and sorts of medical apps that fit into these categories are discussed and listed in the following section.
Health Care Professionals’ Uses of Mobile Devices and Apps
- Management of information
- Effective time management
- Keeping and accessing health records
- Communication and consulting services
- Decision-making in Clinical Practice
- Monitoring of patients
- Education for physicians
Mobile Apps: Benefits For Healthcare Professionals
Mobile devices and apps have provided many benefits to HCPs, including the ability to make faster decisions with lower error rates, improve data management and accessibility, and improve practice efficiency and knowledge. Most relevantly, these advantages have been shown to have a beneficial influence on the quality of care, as evidenced by a decline in potential complications and hospital duration of stay.
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➔ Convenience
Numerous smartphone apps have improved access to evidence-based medicine at the point of care. Students in medical school regard rapid access to knowledge as a significant benefit. Healthcare students no longer need to transport library materials because many are now available via mobile devices. As a consequence, students can carry all of the information found in standard medical textbooks, as well as other pertinent references, in a single tiny device that fits in a medical jacket pocket.
➔ Better Clinical Decision-Making
Mobile apps are essential tools for clinical decision-making at the point of care. Some of the most useful mobile resources are drug citations, medical texts, disease diagnoses, and scientific calculator apps. Mobile devices can also assist pharmacists in making better judgments by providing quick access to various drug sources of news. Mobile gadgets improve the accuracy of diagnostics and treatment decisions. There are twice as many revisions in inpatient treatment choices when electronic references are used. Using a mobile device enhances pharmacological knowledge and understanding statistically significantly.
➔ Improved Accuracy
There has been more accurate diagnostic coding, more frequent documentation of side effects, and greater pharmaceutical safety due to fewer medical errors. The use of a mobile device lessened discharge order list errors by 22% (from 22% to 8%) and resulted in fewer differences in documenting neonatal patient weights in intensive care. Furthermore, documentation generated using a mobile device was assessed to be of greater quality than documentation prepared using paper records, based on a more complete description of clinical findings and an accurate progress assessment.
➔ Increased Efficiency
Mobile devices have been found to help healthcare professionals be more efficient in their work practices. Mobile devices have been found to help healthcare professionals with several efficiencies, including improved patient documentation quality and faster access to new information. Furthermore, doctors have claimed that using a mobile device to retrieve information from a pharmacological database resulted in more efficient decision-making and patient care. In contrast, another study discovered that using mobile devices rather than paper resources reflected in less time spent with the patient due to higher efficiency in median doctor-patient encounter time.
➔ Enhanced Productivity
With recent advancements in digital health technology, mobile apps can be an effective tool for increasing employee productivity. Mobile apps increased the average rate of electronic prescriptions from 52% to 64%. Apps allow crucial drug information to be reviewed quickly, leading to faster prescription processing. Furthermore, numerous studies that explored medical record maintenance and revision discovered that when a mobile device was used, more patient data was logged, apparently due to convenience of use in comparison to paper records. As a result, better customer service and safety in healthcare environments are possible.
Compliance-Friendly Platforms For Healthcare Mobile Apps
iByte Informatics, the leading healthcare mobile app development company understands the underlying principles of developing a digital solution that conforms to industry standards and helps in the digital transformation of healthcare. The fact that we can develop custom healthcare software in-house makes us one of the most highly regarded companies on the market.
- HIPAA Compliance (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)
We assure you that our mobile applications are reliable in contrast to being HIPAA compliant. Private information concerning patients and other linked parties, such as hospitals and healthcare providers is safeguarded whenever it is retained on mobile devices and/or sent via client-server interfaces.
The following compliances are also included on our list:
- BYOD Compliance (Bring-your-own-device)
- SaMD Compliance (Software as a Medical Device)
- FDA Compliance (The Food and Drug Administration)
- GDPR Compliance (The General Data Protection Regulation)
- HITECH Compliance (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act)
Healthcare App Development: Final Thoughts!
iByte Infomatics, as a leading mobile app development company, has built various unique and innovative mobile healthcare applications for our clients. Our mission is to help medical organizations and experts create great healthcare solutions that patients will embrace and enjoy.
For example, we worked with a client, Zocdoc, to help patients rapidly search for and book top-rated doctors online. They and their families have access to the finest quality telemedicine options by using it. Aside from that, it allows doctors to quickly access the patients they want to serve, which helps their practice develop.
As a leading mobile app development company, we understand how critical it is to provide your consumers with a pleasant and compelling user experience. Please contact us if you are interested in developing a healthcare mobile app or discovering more about mobile health technologies.