As technology continues to expand its horizon, mobile apps are becoming a go-to option for many healthcare service providers.
Today, the use of technology in the medical industry has expanded by all leaps and bounds. Technological mediums like mobile apps and high-end devices have revolutionized the medical industry for good. From curing mental illness to performing surgeries whenever required, the rising relevance of technology in healthcare is evident, to say the least.
Take note of mobile healthcare only for example. The worldwide revenue generated from mobile healthcare is expected to touch a whopping 59.15 billion USD by the end of the year 2020.
In fact, researchers have found out that nearly 60% of apps claim to cure or help patients with their diverse medical complications. The question, though, is, are these claims true? Are mobile healthcare apps really effective whenever a crisis knocks on the door?
Well, here’s our take on how effective mobile medical apps can be necessary at times of a crisis.
Factors That Make Mobile Medical Apps Necessary During a Crisis
Take a look at how healthcare apps are proving to be vital during crisis situations.
1. Use of Mobile Healthcare Apps for Suicide Prevention
Today, managing crisis situations like potential suicides and mental breakdowns play a massive role in the medical wellbeing of people around the world. With mobile apps gaining immense prominence and trends in the healthcare industry constantly altering, features like suicide prevention and emergency buttons in apps have become a go-to option for developers.
These features offer options like real-time tracking of a person; help a patient connect to a crisis line by making use of the phone number or internet connection of the device, and much more. Take an example of two such apps for instance.
- The ReliefLink application has been specially designed for emergency care of patients and offers features like resource location and emergency button for any instant medical help. Not only this, but the ReliefLink App also provides constant follow-up care after the patient is discharged from an emergency unit.
- Likewise, the MY3 App, that was created in partnership with Link2Health and the California Mental Services Authority, allows patients with suicidal thoughts and any past suicide attempt history to add up to three main contacts whom the patient would contact for any emergency help. These contacts can either be family members or emergency services like 911. Besides, the app also comes with an emergency button and real-time tracking in case a person needs instant medical assistance.
2. Apps Can Provide Instant Medical History
There are occasions where a doctor has to treat a patient but is left with no other option but to go through all the manual paperwork of the patient’s medical history to identify the right treatment. This leads to delay in treatment and can be fatal for the health of a patient.
However, with the help of an app that provides quick access to a patient’s medical history, the doctor can easily access and employ that information and identify the right treatment for the person. This quickens the process of treating a patient significantly. In fact, such apps can work wonders at times of a pandemic situation when there are many patients whom doctors have to treat, but they lack the amount of time to treat each patient equally.
3. Effective Healthcare Apps Lead to Fewer Mistakes in Medication
How often have we heard of it? A medical crisis arises in a country and suddenly we hear a piece of news that says healthcare provides wrong medication to a patient. This can not only happen in crisis situations but also when the healthcare worker is under a lot of stress.
Hence, with the help of a mobile app, healthcare providers can easily be notified if they provide any wrong medication to a patient. There are multiple mobile medical apps today that can provide real-time alerts about any such medication that can interact with a patient’s already existing medication.
4. Enhanced Interaction with Doctors
Perhaps one of the common instances we see, mobile apps can enhance the interaction between doctors and patients to a great extent. There are instances where a patient contacts a doctor because he/she thinks that their blood sugar level/blood pressure is low or high. Likewise, there are also occasions when a patient doesn’t find it necessary to contact any healthcare provider. Either of these can be mistaken at times.
Hence, an effective mobile medical app can provide assistance on whether or not to contact a doctor in these emergency situations. These apps seem to be a feasible option even at times of a pandemic when the majority of the population stays at home and occasional hyper-anxiety situations can compel a patient to contact a healthcare provider, even when there is no need to do so.
Take an example of the Lark app only. The application has been specially developed in order to assist patients as to when they should contact a healthcare service provider or whether there’s a need to do so or not.
5. Apps Can be a Big Help to Remote Patients
Whenever a crisis situation arrives on a regional, national, or international level, patients staying in remote areas are the ones who are the worst affected as it becomes nearly impossible for them to drive a long way to see their doctor, especially with a medical condition.
Hence, effective healthcare apps not only help patients but also doctors to attend appointments remotely. This allows patients to connect with their doctors whenever they feel the need to do so. Remote appointments and Doctor on-demand solutions are an effective way to get medical consultation during an emergency situation as the doctors are able to give the necessary advice to their patients while still being away from them.
In a Nutshell
As technology continues to expand its horizon, mobile apps are becoming a go-to option for many healthcare service providers. While these apps enhance medical supervision to a great extent, they can be a vital asset during times of crisis too. As for the above-discussed points, they clearly portray how these apps have proved or can prove to be vital in the medical industry.
So if you like this article or wish to share your thoughts about the growing relevance of effective medical apps in healthcare, feel free to connect with us and let us know your views on the same.
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