Mobile applications have changed the way we live. Instead of trying to do a million things, all you nowadays have to do is open an app and push a few buttons. 

And ever since mobile apps entered the scene, almost every industry has undergone massive changes. Delivery applications, for instance, have taken over home food delivery services. 

Healthcare is one other sector where mobile apps have caused a lot of progress. 

Hospitals and other healthcare institutions now realize they can improve their various services using dedicated healthcare applications. They can perform a myriad of tasks that otherwise would have been hard or even completely impossible.

Let us then look at the different ways in which various healthcare industry giants are using mobile apps to improve their services:

Monitoring Health

Health care applications are a boon to several patients. Because by using them, patients can now monitor and maintain their health with ease. 

One, they can easily conduct various tests on themselves. For example, a patient with a heart problem can regularly monitor their heart rate, every day, with just a click of a few buttons. 

Two, they allow doctors to monitor their patient’s health remotely. Using real-time sync technology, the mobile app can sync the details of a patient’s current health condition with the doctor’s account via the internet. Thus doctors can regularly monitor the progress of several patients, especially high-risk patients, and others with serious illnesses, for whom it might be necessary. They can even suggest tips on how the patients can improve health, directly via the app, based on the insights they receive.

Three, they help patients to stay on the correct track when it comes to making progress on their health. For instance, medical mobile applications can remind patients to take their medications at the exact time, in the exact dosage, as per the doctor’s prescription.

In addition, the app can also give details of the diet plan and the exercise regimens the patient must follow. Patients can review both of these periodically and make tweaks to their current eating and exercise routines, based on these.

Four, it can remind patients when the time for their regular check-up arrives. This is especially important for patients recovering from serious illnesses, who must undergo regular check-ups as per their doctor’s advice. By reminding the patients of upcoming check-ups they have, these healthcare mobile apps make it harder to miss it altogether.

All these different features make it easier for several patients to manage their health and live a happier life. 

Consultation

The mobile healthcare apps used by some hospitals and healthcare institutions showcase the list of doctors, comprehensive details of each doctor including their specialty, which interested patients can then view.

These apps also allow the patients to check at what times a doctor would be available for consultation. By checking the exact time and date, they can book the consultation for a time most convenient to them, with the push of a few buttons.

And if the patient for any reason is unable to visit the doctor for direct consultation, some medical apps allow them to get consultation via online video interactions. The doctor can assess the patient’s health condition, and the patient can interact with the doctor, in much the same way as a direct consultation.

Using medical apps for consultations benefits the doctors as well. The app could give them a detailed medical history of patients like any illnesses they may have faced in the past or the allergies they have, based on which the doctor can tailor their treatment methods.

And once the consultation is over, the apps allow patients to review the diagnosis and the details of their disease in a more comprehensive manner. This will make them more aware of their own health and about the illness they are facing.

By combining real-world care with virtual care, hospitals, and other healthcare institutions now give their patients a much better healthcare experience.

Data Management

Hospitals and healthcare institutions often have a large amount of data. In the past, they used to store this in the form of stacks of papers. But nowadays, the majority have turned digital. 

Many hospitals are taking this one step further by creating an integrated data management system, which can be accessed through dedicated mobile apps. They store large amounts of their patient and other data digitally, in encrypted formats, which can be accessed through mobile apps by authorized personnel (Encryption is key here, as the data of patients’ health are of an extremely sensitive nature, and hence must be kept secure at all costs.)

There are also many ways in which this data storage and management help deliver effective healthcare.

One, it helps doctors get detailed information at their fingertips, on the patients that are consulting them. Within a matter of a few seconds, they would get access to a large amount of information without having to probe the patient with questions.

Two, it can help administrative staff to manage the schedules of doctors. This becomes important in situations where a doctor is unable to consult at their usual schedule due to other commitments. Using a dedicated mobile healthcare app, they can manage this easily and also communicate this change to any patients who need to be updated about it.

Three, using mobile healthcare apps, administration staff can check the availability of ICUs, rooms, and other services within the hospital at any given time. This makes it easier to manage patients as per their specific requirements without forcing them to wait for long periods of time.

Four, it also helps to keep the inventory of medicines within the pharmacy in check. Administrative personnel can look into the stock on a routine basis without much hassle, and take the necessary steps when the stock of a particular medicine is low. This will make sure all the medicines are available, exactly when the patients need them.

By creating healthcare apps with secure and fast data management systems, many hospitals around the world have revolutionized their healthcare services. These apps have enabled smoother functioning by removing many obstacles.

Teaching Students

Healthcare applications have made a drastic impact on medical education as well.

One, they have revolutionized teaching by introducing new methods. Many institutions are using virtual learning methods like mobile AR applications to supplement their existing teaching methods. This combining of the real with the virtual has helped students grasp the study material better. Students are also more accepting of digital methods since they practically grew-up alongside these technologies.

Two, medical healthcare apps have made teacher-student communication and information sharing easier. Within a few seconds, teachers can share important notes, documents, articles, etc., with their students, to enhance their understanding of certain topics. It has made it easier to give assignments and projects to students as well.

Thus, medical healthcare applications are helping teachers teach the materials comprehensively,  while simultaneously helping students learn and retain the same materials easily.

Conclusion

In the past decade, mobile healthcare applications have revolutionized healthcare services in a myriad of ways. Since the technology is getting better each year, this trend will continue for the coming years as well. Due to a whole host of benefits that only a dedicated healthcare app can bring, having one is now becoming crucial for healthcare institutions.

How best to create a healthcare application then? 

The answer: get the help of a top app development company. As per your requirements, they will create a secure, intuitive, and feature-rich medical mobile application, that will transform your services.