How Apps Have Revolutionized the Healthcare Industry - SrijibDutta/srijiblog GitHub Wiki

When thinking of healthcare, your first instinct may not be to launch an app on your phone … yet. However, there are now literally thousands of healthcare-related apps available. The rise in their use has changed how people take control of and interact with health management.

Some of these apps have already achieved widespread acceptance. For example, do you use an app to track exercise or contact your doctor? Have you begun using an app to order prescriptions? Anytime you interact with app-based technology, you are helping revolutionize the healthcare industry. Consider just a few of the ways apps are changing the way we access healthcare services:

Enhancing Access to Healthcare Professionals

One significant change apps have made to the healthcare industry is in how we access professional care as the need arises. Telehealth has given patients the ability to contact their doctors at any time, from anywhere. Your doctor’s office may even have an app that allows you to message your health team with questions or concerns in real time.

Not all that long ago, this level of access to healthcare professionals was unthinkable, let alone possible.

Technology is also making it easier for those without a primary care physician to get the care they need. A variety of apps can connect patients with medical experts either for one-off requests or longer-term care. Some require insurance, others do not. Providing medical care to those who do not have access to other resources is just one way that apps are making a positive impact.

Driving Down the Cost of Prescriptions

It would be a challenge to find anyone who believes that U.S. healthcare in general is affordable. Still, there have been at least a few beneficial changes. The cost of prescriptions, in particular, is one major app-driven change to our healthcare landscape.

People can now use apps to find discounts on their prescriptions or compare local pharmacies to see which will be cheapest. Patients can quickly search to find their medication at a manageable price, even if they don’t have insurance.

Specific brands are also launching their own apps to enable patients to purchase medications at the lowest-possible rate. For example, accessing prescriptions for migraine treatments or birth control online removes the middleman and reduces costs.

Improving Our Everyday Health Management

Apps not only lower healthcare costs, they also help reduce anxiety created by uncertainty. A cursory search through available health-related apps will uncover ways to track blood pressure, ovulation, heart rate, glucose levels, and more. These apps are offered as stand-alone trackers in addition to the health and fitness apps that many already use.

Objective data promotes clarity. Regular use of healthcare apps has helped to create a much larger group of people who are well informed about their own health. Being given access to more and better data can, in turn, allow doctors to more effectively treat ailments or conditions.

Habitually tracking data also helps patients become more aware of unseen changes to their health. Providing accurate data over time enables patients to call attention to any significant differences from their established normal. This heightened awareness can result in faster diagnosis and treatment. While medical professionals will always be needed, apps can help people better manage their health and seek treatment they think might help.

Speeding Up the Delivery of Treatment

Healthcare apps are already increasing the speed with which a patient receives treatment. In a 2015 study, nearly 50% of medical professionals surveyed said they would integrate apps into their practice by 2020.

Today, it’s not uncommon for clinics to have patient-facing apps that record visits as well as past and current treatment plans. As more HIPAA-compliant tools are introduced, doctors can update patient information using an app that makes the information available to the patient in real time.

Updating patient information faster, even from remote locations, can dramatically decrease the time it takes for a patient to receive treatment. Healthcare apps also allow medical teams in different locations to consult with each other directly, bringing a higher level of expertise to diagnosis and treatment. Precious treatment time previously lost to back-and-forth email exchanges is eliminated.

Helping Make Informed Self-Care Choices

There are times when medical professionals aren’t necessarily needed to provide the care a patient needs. “Self-care” is more than a social media buzzword. Rather, it’s a term for describing how individuals can manage their physical, mental, or emotional health on their own. Elevating any patient’s perceived level of control can be both empowering and motivating.

Apps help give patients a sense that they have a much bigger role to play in their own well-being. Caring for their health is more than just waiting on an exam table in their underwear. Although the doctor will initiate any course of treatment, patients can access a wealth of helpful resources and ask better questions.

Self-care apps are now available to help with sleep, facilitate meditation, and even remind users to spend less time staring at their phones. Many of these apps are endorsed by researchers or have connections to established, trustworthy healthcare providers. The increase in access to reliable information can help patients make many positive changes in their lives all on their own.

Offering Guidance on Healthy Living

An additional way apps can help promote positive change is by encouraging and supporting healthy choices. Most fitness tracking apps include a feature that lets the user know how much they’ve actually moved each day. They can also track heart rate, exercise progress, and sleep cycles, helping to spotlight areas of concern and motivate healthy living.

We’ve all probably committed to making better lifestyle choices when in the exam room staring into the face of our primary care doc. However, commitment levels are notorious for slipping away as the days and weeks go by.

Fitness tracking apps can serve to remind us to keep up those good habits long after we’ve left the doctor’s office. They can also facilitate healthy exercise competition with friends and family or even offer financial incentives. Some insurance companies, for example, offer discounts to customers who meet fitness goals, as demonstrated by their personal healthcare technologies.

If you aren’t already using a health app of some kind, think about making 2021 the year you give them a try. Not only will you benefit personally, but your usage patterns will help transform the entire healthcare industry.