These days, there’s an app for everything, including your health. Mobile health (mHealth) has transformed the medical field for the better from every perspective: patient, physician, office staff, and executives alike.
mHealth apps keep the channels of communication open 24/7 between patients and provider. They can allow a provider to diagnose, prescribe, and monitor, sometimes without even seeing the patient in person. These apps allow healthcare consumers to take a more active and knowledgeable role in their own care. Plus, they can save time and money across the board without compromising privacy or safety.
Let’s take a deeper look at mHealth apps.
An Overview of mHealth Apps
Experts forecast that mHealth will be a $102.4 billion business by 2022. Plenty of mHealth apps are on the market already, and more are created each day. Most fall into one (or more) of the following five categories:
Clinical and diagnostic apps
These apps allow practitioners to gather, evaluate, and share data about their patients. They may include the ability to access electronic health records (EHRs) on the go, view lab results, or perform digital imaging. Built-in symptom checkers help providers and patients diagnose illnesses and injuries quickly. Such apps even allow for hassle-free patient scheduling.
Remote monitoring apps
Not every condition needs to be managed in a clinical setting. Remote monitoring apps allow patients to remain at home while still under the (virtual) care of their physician. Practitioners can keep track of their patient’s heart rate, oxygen level, blood glucose readings, blood pressure, and other pertinent healthcare information without the need for office visits.
Remote monitoring also applies to mobile health providers. mHealth apps may include electronic visit verification (EVV) that logs who provided which services to whom, plus when and where it was delivered. This type of compliance information will be required of many providers in the coming years.
Clinical reference apps
With mHealth apps, there’s no need to lug around heavy reference guides—all the information needed is at the provider’s fingertips. Clinical reference apps offer digital access to the ICD-9 and ICD-10, E&M coding, and other specialized reference materials.
Productivity apps
Productivity and efficiency go hand in hand with mobile health, and there are a bevy of apps designed to increase efficiency for providers. They include apps designed for home healthcare scheduling, mobile charting, remote dictation, and internal business communication. The best productivity apps will offer all these functions while maintaining HIPAA compliance.
Healthy living apps
Designed with patient engagement in mind, healthy living apps track health metrics such as diet, exercise, heart rate, and sleep. Pregnant women can even use apps about fetal development. Patients with diabetes or heart disease may benefit apps that offer a diet plan tailored to their specific circumstances.
