Impacts of Mobile Applications in the Health Sector
Monday 30 April 2018 - forpatient
Technology has successfully penetrated every aspect of our lives. Every field of human endeavour has been impacted one way or the other by technology and the healthcare sector has not been left out. To be honest, the healthcare industry in many developed economies has seen its share of digital revolution and the use of mobile application software is one of the latest trends in the sector. It is fast becoming an essential aspect of medical service delivery and there is need to ponder on the impacts it has made already as well as the prospects.
Why mobile applications?
Digitalization of the health sector has been on for a long time. To be honest, the different technological adoptions in the sector has been successful and this is one of the reasons the use of mobile apps in the sector has been embraced by users and providers. The rate of introduction of these applications has been nothing short of massive, and some are wondering why there are more and more mobile applications in medicine. The truth is that the healthcare sector is quite large and continuous to expand. There is actually no limit to the amount of innovations the sector can use and players understand this. As far as there are more problems to solve and new ways of solving them, there will be more innovative ideas including mobile apps.
Another cardinal factor that is behind the proliferation of mobile applications in the healthcare sector is the change in the way of life of an average man. The use of smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices is now widespread. Many people are becoming used to performing most of their activities using mobile devices and the healthcare industry cannot stand aloof in the midst of the revolution. Since it is more convenient for people to access information, learn new things, interact, and even transact with their mobile devices, it is only natural that healthcare delivery be included in the trend. People that need medical attention and those that can provide it are already used to using mobile applications so why not make it more convenient for them to interact and transact?
Impacts of mobile applications in the healthcare sector
The use of mobile applications in the healthcare industry has actually made a lot of impacts and we will consider some of the most important ones presently:
They have established new business models in the industry
The disruptive nature of technology is fully evident in the impact of mobile applications in healthcare. Lots of the traditional ways of doing things has become outdated and doctors and other healthcare specialist are embracing new ways of doing business. Such practices as using referral pads are now things of the past thanks to such medical apps like RefferalMD (a HIPAA-compliant app in the USA). This cloud-based referral management system can help doctors write resourceful referrals easily and quickly.
They enable immediate access to help
The problem of access to healthcare has been greatly lessened by the mobile apps trend in the industry. The era of visiting the offices of doctors and other health professionals just to book an appointment is completely gone. There are mobile applications that help patients find healthcare providers in proximity and book an appointment. The Doctena mobile app (Europe), for instance, help both doctors and patients solve this problem scheduling and booking. The platform makes booking effortless, convenient, and flexible. With just few clicks, things that use to take hours can be completed in less than a minute.
They enable instant connection between doctors and patients
Communication between patients and their doctors has been made much easier and flexible through different mobile applications. The barrier of distance has been completely eliminated. Such apps like PingMD (New York, USA) makes it convenient for patients to communicate with their doctors through their mobile devices in a secured platform. Medical information and reports can be shared this way and monitoring is also made more flexible. Language barrier between doctors and patients can also be eliminated through the use of mobile applications. Omnifluent Health is a mobile app from SAIC (USA) that instantly translate patients concerns to doctors when they don’t share a mutual language.
Already, mobile applications have made so much impact in the healthcare sector. They have solved most of the problems that caused reduced efficiency and productivity in productivity in the sector. A lot can still be done in this regards. It is expected that more mobile apps that will provide new ways of doing things in the sector will be released with time.
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