smartphone users seek mobile interaction with doctors

A new FICO survey has found that 4 out of 5 smartphone users are interested in healthcare alerts and interactions on their mobile device.

A recent survey from FICO has found four of five smartphone users are interested in mobile healthcare interactions. An announcement of the study’s results reveals 76 percent of respondents would be interested in reminders of their appointments and 69 percent would also like to receive alerts when it is time for them to schedule appointments or take their medications.

"The way healthcare organizations communicate with people is changing, as individuals become more and more sophisticated about using information technology to make health-related decisions," said Stuart Wells, FICO's chief product and technology officer. "People are especially interested in mobile services that can help them manage their personal health and shop for health care services. The leading health care providers are increasingly turning to mobile technologies to meet this demand, and to engage frequently and proactively with consumers."

Seventy-one percent of smartphone users are interested in healthcare offers from businesses and 53 percent are interested in provider-initiated interactions.

"Mail order pharmacies are checking customer orders via mobile applications, insurers are validating policy details and medical service providers are requesting feedback on the quality of their services or managing follow-up care," said Dr. Wells. "Privacy is critically important and consumers are required to opt-in, but given the benefits of mobile technology in the healthcare field, that doesn't appear to be an impediment to adoption. People are eager to have a dialog with their healthcare providers in ways that are convenient to them."

FICO found 56 percent of patients trust their healthcare organizations with their personal health information. It’s not surprising that convenience outweighs the potential security risks when it comes to mobile healthcare; the same trend was seen in a survey focusing on online health records. The survey found, “More than half (51 percent) of consumers with chronic conditions believe the benefits of being able to access medical information through electronic medical records outweigh the perceived risk of privacy invasion.”

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