Now that we have entered the digital era, we have become more attached to our smart devices. Our smartphones have become such an integral part of our lives that we continue to rely on them in order to manage our schedules, organize our work and business processes, stay informed and connected through social networks, and booking doctor appointments and healthcare check-ups, and the list goes on. Innovation in healthcare has led app development to evolve from a luxury into a necessity.
The Healthcare industry has witnessed enormous transformation due to technological advancement. In the past few years, we can clearly see the role mobile app development has played in the transformation of the healthcare sector. The COVID-19 pandemic is was a booster jab for the healthcare mobile apps which have now paved their way towards tremendous growth during such a crisis, changing the perception of the health industry globally.
Before we dive into how mobile apps are transforming the healthcare industry, let’s catch up on some digital healthcare facts:
- In 2019, the global digital healthcare market was worth 106 billion U.S. dollars. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 28.5 percent from 2020 to 2026, further increasing the size of the market by six-fold! By 2026, the digital health market will amount to nearly 640 billion U.S. dollars.
- According to a report, the Medical app downloads grew 50 percent year-over-year — spurred by demand for COVID-tracing and telehealth apps. Downloads surpassed 3.2 billion across mobile healthcare apps.
- The funding by investors in the digital health industry totalled 21.6 billion U.S. dollars – which is the largest amount so far.
- According to Accenture, the adoption rate of digital healthcare tools is increasing as we speak and 74% of patients were satisfied with the digital health services.
How Can Healthcare Mobile Apps Help Patients?
One thing that Covid crisis has brought with itself amongst destruction and distress is the digitization approach for different industries. With digitization the healthcare industry has improved its patient-centered approach in maintaining patient’s health whilst providing a smooth user experience through mobile app solutions. Whether it is shopping for medical products, looking up a healthy lifestyle, or finding qualified doctors these apps have it all! The development of healthcare apps has played an integral role in empowering patients with quick information.
With the help of mHealth, you can find a doctor, book an appointment and view all your medical test reports from the comfort of your home. Due to the ongoing global pandemic, people were also able to video call their doctors and nutritionists to discuss health issues online. People also feel at ease by using healthy lifestyle apps and health monitoring apps to keep themselves in check regularly. There is no denying the fact that healthcare mobile apps are a blessing for patients.
Mobile applications not only help patients but also allow doctors to gather and store patient health data in a hassle-free manner. Patients can directly submit their insurance cards and other information to mobile apps and it helps healthcare professionals to reduce errors in their paperwork.
How Can Mobile Apps Help Doctors And Healthcare Professionals?
It is safe to say that mobile apps in the healthcare industry have made the lives of medical professionals easier. Be it emergency response, health surveillance and administration, maintaining health records, clinical documentation, treatment monitoring, or ensuring direct touch-points with patients on a regular basis; every aspect is covered by mobile apps.
For example, healthcare facilities that use mobile app services can handle emergency cases much more efficiently. Upon using the app, it notifies the doctors about the emergency and all the crucial data will be sent to the doctor’s device. This saves a lot of time and the doctor can prepare for such a situation in advance. Also, mobile apps help healthcare providers to speed up the documentation and treatment procedure which can be a lifesaver in crucial situations.
Types of Mobile Applications for Healthcare
- Patient medical health tracking apps
- Doctor appointment & clinical assistance apps
- Telehealth mobile apps (doctor-on-demand apps)
- Reminder apps – include medical tracking or health habit tracking apps
- Medical reference or database apps
- Monitoring apps for chronic conditions
- Diagnosis apps for preventive purposes
- Women’s health apps
- Healthy lifestyle apps
- Mental health apps
- Dieting apps
How Are Mobile Apps Changing the Healthcare Space for the Better?
Remote Health Monitoring
In the digital healthcare era, we have fitness bands that are connected to our smartphones via a health app in order to keep track of one’s activities like the number of steps taken while walking or running, sleep timings, and meals taken (diet check), and so on. Moreover, the wearable technology has revolutionized healthcare by supporting patients and doctors in their critical activities like providing real-time access to their electronic health records, providing patient history, and so on. Also, many devices are present that are used to indicate any body condition like measuring blood pressure level, monitoring heart rate and glucose level, amongst others.
Immediate Access
Gone are the days when one had to make physical visits in order to book an appointment with the doctor. Healthcare mobile app services in the medical sector have replaced physical visits with digital visits. In such an era of healthcare digitization and the use of mobile apps, patients can easily find doctors within their reach and book an appointment at the spot. There are also interactive mobile apps that allow patients to ask general health questions from doctors who are available 24/7 without the need of booking appointments.
Easy Payments
Easy and efficient payments of the bills have to be one of the key advantages of mHealthcare applications. Traditionally people had to wait in a long queue for hours to make the payment. Mobile technology for healthcare has highly secured payment methods that allow us to make instant payments for ourselves and for our loved ones.
Home Healthcare
Technology has been the centerstage to revolutionize home healthcare services. Not just the IT industry but medical equipment, medicines, and other healthcare requirements in the industry are determined with the help of real-time technology.
With the help of healthcare mobile apps, patients can choose for home healthcare. Not only elderly people can benefit from this but also people with different conditions like individuals who have special needs or a disability, someone who is aging and needs help to live independently, people recovering from a medical setback, or suffering from chronic diseases, etc.
Report Accuracy
Doctors are human too and can make a wrong judgment but the consequences are much lethal. Thanks to machine-learning and blockchain-based mHealthcare apps such cases of the wrong diagnosis have reduced. With the help of machine accuracy and efficiency, correct reports can be provided to the patient.
Easy Access to Medical Reports
It is due to medical apps that the patient and the doctor can access the medical reports anytime, anywhere. In situations when a patient hops from one healthcare professional to another, this data can be accessed to make quick medical decisions.
Choose Your Doctor
Thanks to mobile apps, patients have the access to all the information they need in order to finalize a doctor for their treatment. From ratings, cost, expertise to other patient’s reviews and experiences; you can look up everything and make a well-informed decision for yourself.
Wrapping Up
The evolution and trends of the healthcare industry have been on a rise for a long time and healthcare app developers are only elevating it further. We are well aware that healthcare mobility solutions are going to be beneficial for the entire world as well as the healthcare industry. If you are thinking of developing a healthcare mobile app, AppleTech with its experience and expertise is the clear choice.
