Mobile applications for healthcare Part 1: Your health at your fingertips

If you own a sensible mobile phone, you’ve gotten probably downloaded or used a mobile application (app) in some unspecified time in the future. According to a 2015 Pew Research study, two-thirds of Americans own a smartphone, and greater than half use it to acquire health information.¹ Mobile apps are applications designed to run on platforms comparable to smartphones, tablets, and other portable devices. Apps are downloaded to your mobile device and are designed to offer consumers quick access to information and tools, each with and without a web connection. As of June 2015, over 100 billion mobile apps have been downloaded from app stores, and the variety of mobile app buyers within the United States is predicted to succeed in 85 million in 2019.² The variety of applications developed specifically for healthcare is growing. There are over 150,000 mobile health, or mHealth, apps available on the market, specializing in various areas of well-being, including, for instance, physical fitness, general health and drug information, disease management, telemedicine and clinical workflow. They can be found free of charge or for a small fee. They are frequently intuitive and straightforward to make use of, even for non-tech-savvy people.

Fitness apps are probably essentially the most widely used mHealth apps today. Many of those applications have accompanying external devices, so-called wearable devices that help consumers track steps, weight, heart rate and calories. As a runner, I used several training apps to organize for long-distance runs. They make it easier to map routes, track training sessions, and calculate distance and speed. Some provide feedback on performance, others send motivational reminders to users to exit and exercise. These digital trainers could make healthy lifestyle changes easier and may be very cost-effective for the common consumer, but only when integrated into their regular routine.

General healthcare apps provide a spread of features, comparable to enabling patients to arrange documents, appointments and medications into personal files that may be easily accessed when visiting doctors and relations. Others allow consumers to directly access their entire electronic health record (EHR) integrated in a single place, which mechanically updates with recent information comparable to medical history, medications, allergies, previous surgeries and procedures, vital signs, weight changes and readings glucose via the patient portal. These applications facilitate the sharing of medical records with healthcare providers in real time, which may promote patient safety, disease prevention, continuity of care, and patient self-management.

Drug information apps provide physicians with drug information comparable to drug indications, dosages, contraindications, safety information, and prescription interactions. Apps geared toward improving medication adherence remind patients when to take pills, what number of pills to take, and when to refill their prescription. Disease management apps help doctors monitor patients’ health and improve communication. For example, there are several applications available on the market focused on diabetes therapy. Some simply help patients monitor their blood glucose levels, while others provide the doctor and the patient’s healthcare team with advanced data evaluation, together with a patient self-management plan. Telemedicine applications support communication between patients and healthcare providers and are one in every of the fastest growing areas of application development. These apps allow patients to attach with doctors via video or text consultations in real time. Some healthcare providers could make referrals to specialists, order lab tests and prescribe medications through the app. Others allow providers to make a diagnosis and determine whether an emergency room visit is essential.

Finally, clinical workflow apps improve communication and data management for nurses and other providers within the clinical environment. These are essentially the most advanced applications available on the market, often connecting multiple health information systems and improving efficiency within the workplace. However, integrating mHealth applications into hospital care requires a high level of commitment, coordination and resources. Questions hospital administrators should consider when developing an mHealth strategy include:⁴: :

1. Do mHealth technologies improve workflow, reimbursement, and quality of patient care?
2. Which mHealth apps are approved for suggestion to patients?
3. When can the mHealth app be really useful to a patient and the way will this information be communicated to the healthcare team?
4. Who will guide the patient on using the mHealth app and who’s liable for monitoring compliance and results?
5. What does the strategy of evaluating recent mHealth apps seem like? How will performance be tracked?
6. What recent skills do clinicians, IT professionals and hospital managers need to make sure successful implementation of recent digital tools?

mHealth integration can improve disease management, communication and overall patient care. However, the general adoption of mHealth will depend largely on:

1. Payer recognition of the worth that apps provide in healthcare management
2. Establish standards for security and privacy guidelines that protect a patient’s personal health information
3. Evaluation and regulation of health care applications
4. Full integration with health information systems⁴

Technology is rapidly changing every aspect of our each day lives and can proceed to rapidly change every aspect of our each day lives. Managing our health isn’t any exception. As mHealth applications develop into more sophisticated and more pervasive in our modern society, patients and consumers will demand higher quality and functionality. As healthcare providers, we should be equipped with the abilities to adopt and manage digital tools as they may inevitably develop into an integral a part of our patient care.

1. . Pew Research Center. Retrieved June 15, 2016 from http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/04/01/us-smartphone-use-in-2015/

2. Retrieved June 20, 2016 from www.statista.com. http://www.statista.com/topics/1002/mobile-app-usage/

3. AJN Reports (2015). The world of health care applications: opportunities and challenges for nurses. . 2016; 115(11): 18-19.

4. Austin R., Hull S. (2014). The power of mobile health technology and prescribing apps.

​Myrna B. Schnur, RN, MSN

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