As technology improves, mobile apps, especially health-oriented ones,
are on the rise. Leveraged by patients and healthcare pros alike, they’re
a burgeoning market set to generate $12.1 billion by 2030.
First, one must distinguish wellness apps from healthcare apps. While they serve similar functions, there is an important difference.
A wellness app enhances or tracks a patient’s overall health. They primarily focus on promoting a healthy lifestyle, well-being, and preventative measures.
Wellness apps are used for:
Through fitness tracking devices, a person can track his vitals such as heartbeats, blood pressure, calories burned, etc. Most fitness-tracking devices provide motivation, help track goals and connect people to a robust online community
Wellness apps may include features for users to track their calorie intake, create diets, and make healthy eating tips.
On the other hand, healthcare apps use medical data to provide patient care, such as diagnosis, treatment plans, and managing electronic health records. In essence, a healthcare mobile app deals with medical conditions and provides medical care. This article will specifically focus on them.
The obvious benefit of these apps for patients is that they do not need to visit the doctor’s office. Normally, healthcare providers need time to handle patients, run paperwork, upkeep their healthcare facilities, etc.
All of this creates delays, and patients often need to wait for hours for a chance to speak with a doctor, especially if there are many people at the hospital.
In that regard, a mobile app can provide several benefits:
Medical apps eliminate the need for patients to visit their healthcare provider in person. Many activities such as scheduling appointments, answering specific questions, and receiving medical advice can be done from home. This immediate access to patient care results in fewer patients clustering in the doctor’s office.
These applications are developed to be intuitive and to seamlessly guide the patient through their treatment. They can set reminders, give advice, provide proper dosages, and update their instructions based on medical calculations.
Such healthcare mobile apps also have social features and enable the creation of a community of people with similar conditions. Therefore, the app connects patients with similar symptoms so they can interact and inspire each other to continue and support.
Yet there are thousands of mobile healthcare apps. A person new to the industry will hardly be able to orient themselves. To assist you, the article has prepared a summary of the top healthcare app types.
While it would be impossible to list every app that is on the market due to its vast number, there are generally a few types of apps.
These applications contain large databases of medical information - diseases, symptoms, treatment options, drug interactions, etc. Such a health app can also hold electronic medical records or any other patient data. This data collection can help medical students and primary care physicians with patient management.
Perhaps the most popular type of app, they connect patients with a physician remotely, removing the need for an in-person meeting. Especially in remote places without access to healthcare, telemedicine can still permit patient monitoring and some limited urgent care.
Healthcare apps for patients can help them organize their medication intake effectively. They can set reminders, create medication schedules based on a patient's medical history, or alert healthcare professionals to the misuse of drugs.
Physical and mental health are equally important for patients. That is why there are already many mental health apps that track people's psychic states and where people can talk to mental health professionals during online therapy sessions. Such monitoring contributes to the early detection of illnesses and the prevention of depression and anxiety among vulnerable people.
All of these uses for applications undeniably bring many benefits to the healthcare industry, however, there are some hurdles that need to be overcome
All of these uses for applications undeniably bring many benefits to the healthcare industry, however, there are some hurdles that need to be overcome
Just as with any medical software, there are some common vulnerabilities with medical apps:
Data security: Mobile healthcare apps could contain medical records or other healthcare data related to a specific patient. Unfortunately, hackers always try to find ways to enter health systems and gain information. If these patient records fall into the wrong hands, there could be serious consequences for the patient.
Compatibility: A lot of times people with iOS devices cannot fully utilize features for Android phones and vice versa. Given the fact that these apps affect the patient’s health, errors in the application can be really harmful.
Thankfully, these issues can be easily overcome with the help of a trusted partner—a competent healthcare mobile app development company can ensure their app is up-to-date on the latest protection software.
Furthermore, such a company can provide continuous upkeep and maintain an application for Android and iOS devices. Among healthcare app development services, BGO Software stands as one of the top competitors in the industry.
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