how healthcare apps are revolutionizing patient outcomes

Increased patient involvement, greater patient awareness of health issues, and heightened motivation for patients to lead healthier lifestyles; all this and more are among the boons of the digital mobile health revolution. Many physicians have learned to take advantage of — and contend with — the plethora of possibilities health-oriented apps and devices have opened up.

Healthcare Apps though are not replacement of doctors or caregivers, however it helps patients to communicate and be in touch with their physicians and healthcare providers .Such apps make it possible for physicians to stay on top of patient behavior in a way that was impossible until now. They also enable patients to keep a constant eye on their own conditions, taking a greater role in ensuring they remain healthy or recover faster from a disease.

 Across Playstore and Apple apps  Store, there are variable swath of free and premium medical apps on the market, some of which allow you to better understand pharmaceuticals while others work to diagnose your symptoms and prep you for an unforeseen medical emergency.

for example there are apps that enable patients to follow up with physicians after treatment. As demonstrated in a recent University of Toronto study, these tools could reduce the need for follow-up visits, lowering costs and ensuring better recovery for patients who often miss those follow-ups because they are feeling better.

Other dangers of health apps include the compromising of patient data (hacking is just as big of a problem for developers of health apps as it is for others), as well as the possibility an app that records inaccurate information could upload that bad data to patients’ EHR, spreading problematic information throughout their care cycle.

Healthcare professionals run some risks when prescribing apps to patients. On the pro side, patients may be more engaged; however, some may also view such an app as a replacement for their doctor. For instance, if an app says patients are doing well, they may decide they can skip an in-person appointment — a decision that could eventually come back to haunt them. Even worse, apps might undermine long-term doctor-patient relationships as patients begin to rely on apps instead of providers for information. Evidence on whether or not this is true is hard to come by.And, of course, there's the bottom line: healthcare facilities could end up losing income if patients begin to replace them with apps.