Healthcare has gained importance in the last few years and the awareness of general people towards health is increasing due to internet connectivity that empowers the user to search for information.
The need of Health Apps:
- General Awareness
- Patient’s Awareness
- Time crunch
- Priority of Healthcare
- Trend of Health check
- Increasing Working Hours
- Longer hours of commute
Thousands of apps are available to suit the variety of requirements of users.
Types of Health Apps:
- Informatory
- Diet and Nutrition
- Exercise, Yoga and Fitness
- Health Insurance
- Health Checkup, Booking and Tests
- Alternative Medicines
- Medical Reminders
- Pregnancy and Ovulation Calendar
Purpose of Digital Health Apps:
Health Management: Smartphones based health management apps help in chronic diseases by maintaining the medical chart, dosage, frequency of medicine and replenishment of medicines, reminders for daily medicines, sharing test reports, X-rays, Sonography reports, approaching the doctors for an appointment and expert opinion.
Patient Monitoring: Doctors use mobile apps for patient care, cross-checking the reports, sharing the expert opinion, details of operations, latest medical advancements, unique ways of diagnosing, treatments and alternatives, educating the patient, medical procedures, checking patient health history, managing patient appointments and administering the clinical tasks of staff members. In case of emergency, the doctors can attend the video call and guide for preliminary care till the patient reaches hospital especially in diseases like heart attack. Doctors may also use these apps for sending medicine prescriptions in case of the minor condition of illness or availability of history of the patient.
Basic Healthcare: Patients can approach doctors via these mobile apps to clear their queries for which they are ready to pay the doctor fees online and some of the free apps allow users to ask experts few questions for no charges. Medical condition, its severity, urgency, treatment options, estimated medical expense, whether treatment of illness covered under insurance or not. Some may state that it is not a safe method but these health apps are extremely helpful in the first level of checking or seeking advice through these apps by sharing symptoms, queries about the side effects of treatments, suitable treatment, non-availability of medicine or alternative medicines etc.
Prevention of Diseases: Many medical apps that give detailed information on diseases and can help people to take precautions. The prevention of disease is of prime importance than the treatment itself. Lots of people who ignore their health due to work pressures, careless nature, or lack of knowledge can get proper help in query resolution. This can push them to take medical tests or at least approach a doctor in case of symptoms match or in case of doubt. We can also see how a pet has a good impact on our health like dogs, cats and rabbits.
Pre-Operation Preparedness: Patients may not be ready for surgery or other strict medical treatment. The medical apps, which provide information and videos about the illness, treatment, and operational procedures, can help the patient in being mentally ready before admission to hospital. The patient and family both can know about what is the actual medical technique used during the procedure.
Longevity: People who want to live a long and healthy life will desire maximum information on health and nutrition, foods to remain young, stress management, exercise and fitness, wellness and prevention, improving on existing health issues, immunity booster medicines, vitamins, new medical treatments for preserving the overall health and much more.
Self-Monitoring: In case of disease detection, frequent check on health is important and this is possible independently with the help of medical apps. The patient can keep check of diabetes, blood pressure and such diseases that demand attention and frequent checks. The basic checking and level of sugar or blood pressure can help the patient to take medication, contact doctor or request change in medicine due to improper control over body or uneasiness.
Benefits of Health Apps:
- Empowering Patients
- Creating Basic Understanding of Illness
- Precautionary Measures
- Prevention of Disease Spread
- Medication Reminders
- Health checkup Reminders
- Doctor Appointment Booking
- Second Opinion
- Medical Procedures
Drawbacks of Health Apps
- Overload of Information
- Wrong /Confusing / Incomplete Information
- Lack of Guidelines to apply the information
- Medicines without checking
- Not beneficial in case of preexisting diseases or allergies
- Lack of awareness of medical terminology or disease description
Best Health Apps for Android
- Calorie Counter
- Google Fit
- My Trainer
- Runstatic
- Moves
- Sworkit Lite Personal Trainer
- Lose it
- Nike Running
- Care Zone
- Doctor on Demand
- Medscape
- mySugrf
Commotion due to health issues is common but precautionary measures have risen with the awareness levels in the people who either are fitness freak or get active after reading medical and health care articles, blogs or download apps which their friends use.
The download statistics highlights more than 300% rise in the last 3 years, the worldwide download in a month currently is in millions. The popularity, ease, and need of Digital Health Apps certify them as future prescriptions.
Author Bio:
Anoop is a proud father of a Flemish Giant Rabbit. Besides being a full-time Rabbit father, he is a freelance content writer/blogger and an educationist, with more than 6 years experience in the field of content writing.
