The usage of Mobile Apps is increasingly becoming ubiquitous across all industry sectors. Healthcare is no exception as it is largely driven by Patient Centricity. Current forecasts predict that the global mobile health market will generate an estimated $28 billion in 2018. Therefore healthcare consulting firms are now seeking to enhance the experience and increase patient satisfaction through highly customized solutions and long-term engagements.
In the past, hospitals were perceived as uncomfortable, intimidating and stressful destinations for treatment options and physician consultations. This no longer holds good with changing scenarios. There is a strong focus on meeting patient needs and comfort with the delivery of quality healthcare through technological advancements and medical innovations.
Today’s digital-savvy patients and caretakers seek quick responses, 24/7 access to their health information and ability to monitor and take their own healthcare decisions. Healthcare Apps fulfils all these sophisticated expectations. They enhance patient experience through specifically tailored and ‘easy to use’ user-interfaces for exploring various treatment routes and managing options. Apps also provide seamless integration of healthcare systems, payers and providers for successful implementation of digital strategies.
In the past, hospitals were perceived as uncomfortable, intimidating and stressful destinations for treatment options and physician consultations. This no longer holds good with changing scenarios. There is a strong focus on meeting patient needs and comfort with the delivery of quality healthcare through technological advancements and medical innovations.
Today’s digital-savvy patients and caretakers seek quick responses, 24/7 access to their health information and ability to monitor and take their own healthcare decisions. Healthcare Apps fulfils all these sophisticated expectations. They enhance patient experience through specifically tailored and ‘easy to use’ user-interfaces for exploring various treatment routes and managing options. Apps also provide seamless integration of healthcare systems, payers and providers for successful implementation of digital strategies.
Categories of Healthcare Apps
- Emergency Care Apps: Recommend nearest and most effective care destination to patients in the event of emergencies. May also provide information about waiting times, routes, insurance possibilities, approximate treatment costs and travel times.
- Wayfinding/Guiding Apps: Aid patients in quickly finding concerned departments, physicians and other concerned medical staff in healthcare destinations.
- Pregnancy and Childbirth Apps: Help parents especially mothers to schedule and track their appointments. Also provides education on pre-natal, post-natal and newborn care.
- Hospital Apps: Apps used to aid hospital marketing, branding and advertising. It also gives details about services and facilities available, shows virtual tour demos and provides general hospital information.
- Outpatient Care Apps: Guide patients about their health status, helps to monitor it and increases adherence to prescribed treatment plans. These apps also have treatment trackers for managing diagnostic results and care procedures.
- Appointment and Referral Apps: Facilitates speedy appointment bookings and referral processes thereby boosting doctor-patient relationships.
- Wellness Apps: Educates and helps patients to monitor their well-being with health trackers, exercise schedules, nutrition/diet recommendations and health tips.
- Medication Tracking Apps: Encourages adherence to prescribed medications by tracking doses, intervals, meals and also provides reminders for immunization and re-stocking drugs.
Desirable App Features
- Possessing relevant functionality based on patient requirements and demands
- Having a pleasant and user-friendly interface
- Aiding staff training for better application implementation and adoption
- Promoting its usage by leveraging marketing strategy and social media
Healthcare App Benefits
- Provide complete transparency to patients by informing waiting times and even allows them to select the nearest suitable healthcare facility with shortest waiting times in crisis situations.
- Gives access to right information in a time of need thereby answering patient concerns and eliminating ambiguity. Example:Online ’What to expect’ booklets for pregnant mothers.
- Bridges the emotional gap with patient empowerment by involving patient in decision making, goal setting and self-monitoring and bringing them closer to medical staff.
- Enables chronically ill patients to take control of their own health with easy usability and connects them with caregivers for any issues thereby promoting early medical intervention.
- Offers splendid digital experience with quick 24/7 access to healthcare information. It also intimates patients about special discounts, healthcare packages and offers, sends personalized messages and collects feedback which in turn fosters better patient relationship management.
Thus Medical Apps for Patients as digital care solutions significantly aid in better healthcare quality management. Apps encourage higher medication adherence, increase cost-effectiveness and improve patient outcomes.
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