By 2019, the global mobile healthcare app market is estimated to reach $37 billion (Statista). The high numbers will surely attract future entrepreneurs to take a dive in this market. However, there’s more to healthcare app market than meets the eye. The success of any mobile app lies in the need it addresses and the issues it resolves. Moreover, the way such an app improves efficiency while being cost effective also plays a major role in its success.
Healthcare apps are nothing short of a boon for the medical industry. From doctors to patients to pharmacists, everybody is benefitting from this technological marvel. At the same time, hospice services have also realized the benefits of healthcare apps.
Let’s take a look at various ways in which mobile apps have transformed the healthcare industry…
By Facilitating Immediate Access
Patients don’t need to wait in line to meet a doctor, for there’s no need to leave the house. A mobile healthcare app will do it for them in simple steps:
- A patient simply starts with downloading a healthcare finder app on their phone.
- Create an account
- Type their health condition or choose from given categories.
- And that’s it.
The app will automatically search and locate a suitable doctor in the vicinity. The patient can then connect with the doctor on the app and communicate through a phone call, in-app chat or video call.
Improved Coordination
With the right diagnostics and quick communication, the doctor can tell the prognosis of the patient and prescribe suitable medication. What follows from this point is entirely based on physician-patient coordination. From routine checkup appointments to urgent communication, mobile healthcare apps streamline everything.
Mobile healthcare apps help in preventing any confusion about how a drug should be administered. Thoughtfully developed healthcare apps also notify patients and doctors about their upcoming appointments.
360º Convenience
Healthcare apps help doctors and patients in making medical care easy and hassle free. They also make things easy for nurses and administration staff.
A healthcare app developed for a particular hospital can work as an efficient CRM. This is because every patient’s details are available on the go. Such an app can make it easy for doctors from two or more departments to coordinate with each other.
When it comes to nurses, these apps can alert the staff whenever a patient’s medication is due. Recording current health stats on such an app further minimizes the paperwork.
Better Handling of Emergency Cases
Hospitals that deploy a dedicated app are known to handle emergency cases a lot better than the hospitals where things happen manually. This is because of an efficient information system that informs the doctors about emergency cases. Such apps also help in better documentation of the case and speed up the treatment procedure.
Benefits for Hospice Service Providers
Not just doctors and medical attendants, healthcare apps have also helped hospice service providers to offer better services. With all the patient information at their disposal, home health and hospice providers are better equipped to know special needs of their clients.
From food allergies to a medical condition that needs special attention, every information is crucial for an optimum care. Hospice service providers can also use a healthcare app to communicate with the doctor and ask for immediate attention if the need arises. There’s so much that automation and technology can do, one just needs to imagine the possibilities.
Introduction of IoT in Healthcare Mobile Apps
Smartbands, the ones that were simply used as a pedometer, have already evolved enough to measure our pulse rate and blood pressure too. Such a wearable device, when integrated with a mobile healthcare app, can record a patient’s daily health updates in the database.
IoT is already benefiting many industries, and when it joins hands with the medical industry, the options and benefits are galore.
Faster Payments
Nobody in a hospital has time to stand in queues to make payments. And yet, it’s a common scene at almost every hospital. A relative or a close friend is always seen waiting for his turn to pay the bills while the patient waits helplessly to get the medical attention he needs.
Healthcare apps also take this hassle away. Electronic payment systems such as payment by card or digital wallet allow quicker payment and timely treatment. Facilitating internet banking also helps in secure and fast payments.
Better Self Care
Healthcare mobile apps not only make things easy for doctors and patients, they also pave a more comfortable fitness path for clients. When a patient is prescribed particular lifestyle changes, he can use a healthcare app for:
- Weight Management: Pedometer and HIIT workout programs like 7-min workout can help patients keep their weight in check.
- Women Health: From PMS to menopause to hormonal issues, healthcare apps can aid women in better health management and avoid complications of many kinds. Pregnancy specific apps have emerged as a boon for would-be mothers.
- Personal Well Being: From meditation to yoga instructions, healthcare apps present a plethora of options for physical, mental and emotional well-being.
Great Business Opportunity
Given the need for automation and benefits it brings to the table, healthcare apps come across as a viable business option. The efficacy with which mobile healthcare apps get things done attracts more users onboard every day, doctors and patients alike. Streamlined process flow and instant access to the right specialist makes healthcare apps a great solution.
At the same time, healthcare apps also help doctors, hospitals and hospice service providers build a better brand name for them through reviews and ratings. Talk to any mobile app development company, and you’ll know that an app that has the best doctors and hospitals with highest ratings also gets downloaded the most. Take a look at your local healthcare app and see what they are good at.
In order to do better than them, you’ll need to find a different USP. It’s all about doing what’s not done yet, or being better than the best. Good luck.
