Mobile technology is amazing. With the available technologies, anyone can see a doctor using smartphones. The impact of app developers and mobile app developers is increasing in healthcare. They make this possible by developing and releasing telemedicine and telehealth apps.
These apps make the provision and accessing of health more convenient. They make healthcare more preventive, inexpensive and better. These mobile apps for healthcare are unique. They are creating a viable marketplace for healthcare services. These apps reduce time to access medical consultation and treatment.
These mobile apps are revolutionizing healthcare on a daily basis. They allow patients to seek health on virtual platforms. They assist doctors and patients in solving health issues. These apps help healthcare providers to gather and manage information. They serve reference materials for care providers. They assist in monitoring and managing of patients. These apps are available across the U.S. and overseas to travelling U.S. residents. It is a must for mobile apps offering diagnosis and treatment become HIPAA-compliant. Telehealth information is available in the National Conference of State Legislatures. It contains information for each State within the U.S.
There are thousands of these apps available. Top app development companies work on daily basis to meet demands. This is an area where virtual reality app development is increasing without bounds. Highlight of some of the telemedicine and telehealth apps is available on this post.
PingMD
PingMD is a mobile app that provides a platform for doctors and patients to chat. It is available for Apple and Android smartphone users. This app enables doctors to discuss medical issues with their patients and colleagues. It eliminates the issue of leaking private messages to the public. The discussion between patients and doctors is transferrable to the patients’ medical record. Doctors can bill their patients for e-visitations and e-consultations. With this app, consulting a doctor becomes easy and fast.
HelloMD
HelloMD is an app where doctors set their consultation fees. This app helps to find specialists for appointment booking. It is not an app that provides access to immediate healthcare. This app will help find specialists like neurologists and radiologists. This app is for patients with very special health conditions. Appointments are set up within 24 hours once a specialist in located. Thereafter, consultation between the specialist and patient takes place through video call. The app aims to connect patients with the right doctor. It helps patients seek second opinion on health conditions. Face to face consultation can happen where necessary. Doctors fix their fee and patients pay through credit card. This is before fixing an appointment. This app is web-based and accessible via mobile devices.
Epocrates
Epocrates is an app available for download to users of Android and Apple mobile devices. This app is a powerful app that allows doctors to access the health evidence of patients. It allows doctors access specific guidelines from national specialty societies about patients. It is an app with loads of source information on medications and prescriptions. It is an app for finding doctors to consult. This app provides information on harmful interactions between drugs. It can help identify pills using imprint code and some physical properties. It helps in calculating BMI and GFR. This app provides a platform for accessing medical news and information on researches. This app has two versions, the free and the fee for subscription version. The free version is Epocrates RX and the other is Epocrates Essentials. The Epocrates Essentials costs about $159.99 at the time of writing.
LiveHealth Online
LiveHealth Online is an available to Android and Apple mobile device users. This app allows patients to consult doctors through video calls. These doctors write prescriptions for their patient at the end of consultation. Note that this is possible in only few states. Patients make payment using their insurance plan. Consultation fee is $49/consultation for patients with no insurance coverage. Patients pay the consultation fee if their policy does not cover online visits.
Medscape
Medscape is an app accessible by Android and Apple mobile device users. It offers healthcare professionals the access to millions of medical information. It is a platform where medical profession can access educational tools. For clinicians in the U.S., it is the number one medial platform. It has more than 4 million users. It helps caregivers to look up medications and their dosages. It has a drug interaction check for preventing adverse combination of drugs. Its evidence-based disease and condition reference assists in finding important information on patients. There are medical calculators and image collection platforms on this app. This is a free app but requires that users to set up an account. It is available to users of Kindle Fire.
Microsoft HealthVault
Microsoft HealthVault is a free health mobile app. It is available to Apple and Window mobile device users. This app is a platform where individuals can keep their medical records. It is safe and up-to-date in storing medical record. It eases sharing of personal medical records to health professionals and family. People with chronic condition use this app to trail their health metrics. It is possible to input manual data. For automatic data input, patients connect the app to health trackers. Accessing this app through the web is possible.
Smartphones have come a long way over the years and have become far more than simple tools for making calls and sending texts. Now, your smartphone can make financial transactions, secure your home or car, and yes, monitor your health and lead you towards a healthier lifestyle.
A variety of mobile health apps currently exist for android and iOS devices, and each app brings something unique to the table. Some are entirely free, while some charge a small fee for their services. But before we look at some of the reigning health apps currently available, let’s first look into the usefulness of mobile health apps in general.
Do mobile health apps really work?
According to Domains4Less, “Gone are the days when health professionals could only see and help patients in person. And limited are the days when websites and phone calls were the only alternative to physically speaking to a patient. Health apps are the new frontier …”
The current breed of mobile health apps available serve mainly two functions, one of which is the recording or collection of your vitals which, depending on the app, may then be shared with a health care provider. Other apps function by providing you immediate access to health information like workouts and nutrition data which can help you live a healthier lifestyle. This means that with the help of an app or a combination of apps that deliver the above functions, you can stay healthy and may not actually need to see a doctor unless you are suffering from very serious symptoms.
Even though there is no empirical evidence yet of how much health apps contribute to healthy living, there is proof that such digital tools do make you take greater notice of changes in your health, such as weight increase, the need for more physical activity, or an erratic heart rate and thus gives you an opportunity to get these issues under control. If you use such apps consistently, they are bound to eventually contribute positively to your health.
Other ways specialized health apps can help include:
Monitoring blood pressure. If you suffer from high blood pressure, this type of app could be of tremendous benefit to you. Some apps in this category even offer information on lifestyle changes you can make to control your blood pressure. Such apps work by either hooking them up to a blood pressure cuff or by entering your blood pressure results manually into the app.
Monitor your physical activity. Medical science has repeatedly proven that physical activity is the key to a healthy life in every way. The apps in this category make use of sensors in your smartphone or other smart gear to track walking, running, cycling, and even climbing steps. Certain apps in this category can also recommend workout routines to help keep you more active and improve your overall health.
Monitor your diet. Apps in this category let you keep track of what you eat and drink, as well as how your diet positively or negatively impacts your health. Depending on the app, it may also help you compare and choose the foods that are best for your overall health.
Medication reminders. With these types of app, you won’t forget to take your medication ever again. This can be very useful if you’re taking various different kinds of medication at different times. Many people who accidentally skip medication doses usually find that there’s no improvement in the condition they are trying to treat.
This app is free to download but requires subsequent payments. The price is worth it, however, considering the benefits of the app. With Doctor on Demand, you can conveniently organize video visits with certified physicians who can promptly provide you important medical advice anywhere you are in the world via your phone. Doctors on the app can provide treatment via the app for cough/cold, allergies, minor infections, flu, as well as emotional health concerns. The services are also covered by insurance (depending on your health insurance provider).
Should any of us really be surprised at this point, more than 20 years after the web really took hold in society, that so many of us turn to it for advice, guidance and a little help navigating our health diagnosis and outcomes.
According to a recent report featured in American Medical News, most of us in America are turning to the web to help in dealing with our symptoms. What has traditionally been a vehicle to identify the condition associated with our symptoms and has now taken on the role of confidant in all things healthcare related.
For example, we are hitting the web to research which physicians to see, what treatment options there are, services provided by care facilities and pharmacies, and thing else we believe will be useful to our longevity and comfort.
This is not surprising. We live on the web. Just this week I went online before deciding to call my daughter’s pediatrician to see what to do about her fever and if it was getting to high. While there, I also took a look around to find tips for breaking it and to see whether I should be packing her in blankets or letting her “breath.”
In the end, all of the information I found about my daughter’s condition turned out to be true and was verified by her pediatrician.
Apparently, this is exactly how about 75 percent of the rest of us feel. Granted, if I were in a real emergency or needed immediate care, I wouldn’t be hitting the web first, but I’m actually scratching my head a little about why this information, about people turning to the web, is such a revelation.
As we all continue to move online, the web is going to become more and more a part of our lives. And really, we’re already seeing services like telehealth and remote video consults filling voids where services are required.
On top of this, there are companies like HealthTap that actually allow patients to interact with a panel of physicians online and ask questions or seek medical guidance. Clearly this is the new normal, the present path.
So, again, I’m left wondering why it’s so interesting that three quarters of the U.S. population taps a few keys to find the best information available to them. If nothing else, this should mean we are the most educated patients in the history of mankind, which could lead to better results, and … wait for it … more engaged individuals.
I leave you with the following bit of info about others like me (though I’m without chronic condition), pulled directly from American Medical News (thanks, guys!):
Chronic care patients rely on information online
A Manhattan Research survey found that 54 percent of patients who use the Internet say their healthcare decisions, including choices of physicians and medications, are influenced by information they find online. And 79 percent of patients diagnosed in the past three months with a chronic condition are likely to use what they see online. Percentages of patients who are influenced by online health information by conditions:
Smartphones have come a long way over the years and have become far more than simple tools for making calls and sending texts. Now, your smartphone can make financial transactions, secure your home or car, and yes, monitor your health and lead you towards a healthier lifestyle.