Technology has rapidly effected the healthcare sector. Telehealth and mobile apps are changing how healthcare is delivered to patients. The central concern with healthcare is patient engagement. Patient engagement mobile apps are one of the newest ways that patient care is being delivered. Over 75% of Americans use smartphones, and anyone in the world who uses a smartphone has come to rely on them for easy access to everything. Social media, bank accounts, addictive games: it’s all information that is easy to connect to on the go.
Health apps are also on the rise, with fitness apps, calorie tracking, and other exercise apps staying in the top ten apps online. The public is relying more and more on technology, so being able to engage patients from a distance is a must for any healthcare facility who wants to remain current and keep their patients as engaged as possible.
Apps are providing a bridge between patient and healthcare facilities, allowing providers and patients to have access to one another. As with most technologies, medical apps on a smartphone are facing more obstacles and regulatory challenges. The patient-centered apps are still growing in their popularity right now, and there are so many benefits for health apps, including:
- Secure connectivity to physician and staff
- Access to research about health insurance and claims
- Feedback research can be completed at leisure
- Easy to find urgent ERs and care centers
- Chronic disease management
- Diagnoses
- Lifestyle management
- Discharge instructions
- Patient home exercise program
Continuity Of Care
It’s a vital issue for healthcare providers to provide continuity of care for their patients, even after discharging them from their care. Patient engagement doesn’t just end with treatment of one issue, but involves how the healthcare provider follows up post treatment. Health apps provide the best patient engagement solutions in 2019, and with services like on-call nurses and doctors available to engage patients, health apps make sense!
Health Apps Driven By Provider
There are several instances where healthcare providers can use patient engagement mobile apps to assist with patient care. Providers can send updates and notifications directly to their patients, reminding them of appointments and tests and following up with post-diagnostic care. There are even reminders available to help with antibiotic and medicinal compliance. This not only improves the patient experience, but it ensures that the healthcare providers have better outcomes and better patient loyalty. Apps that are driven by the provider are those that are looking to increase engagement with patients, improve patient convenience in accessing information, and extend the hours where patients can get answers to their health questions.
Top Patient Engagement Mobile Apps
With everything that has been talked about with regard to why patient engagement mobile apps are so important, let’s take a look at some of the current top apps around:
AC Health
AC Health is a patient engagement platform that healthcare providers can use to assign personalized instructions for patients to take home via the mobile app. This app helps healthcare providers to remind their patients about their discharge instructions. It means that patients can remember what to do after their appointments, giving healthcare providers a platform to gently nudge their patients to engage with their healthcare. The most unique aspect of this platform is the ability to 100% customize each plan so that every patient has personalized instructions from their provider.
Mend
A fully integrated telemedicine and patient engagement platform, Mend delivers paperless automation for a variety of healthcare providers. There is a secure connection via SMS and email on Mend, allowing patients to connect to their healthcare provider whenever they need to ask a question. This app has more than one language capability and is supported by insurance coverage and reimbursement. There is a virtual healthcare practice featured to enable advanced patient data gathering, too.
Practice Fusion
This app is a cloud-based electronic health record management app that allows physicians to connect with their patients and their data all in one platform. Practice Fusion ensures much better healthcare provided to patients, with a paperless service guaranteed. Customer data can be imported, which removed the need for manual data entry and electronic sharing of test results.
DoctorConnect
One of the biggest patient engagement software apps out there, DoctorConnect enables medical and dental practices to engage with their patients with amazing features. These include appointment reminders, patient retention management, and waiting list management. The communication tools allow for patient engagement in a more controlled and streamlined way. Users can automate appointment reminders, manage appointment confirmations, request reschedules of appointments, and receive past-due bill alerts. There is a central dashboard for easy access to patient information, and there is the quality of care surveys that further facilitate patient engagement.
Luma Health
Luma Health is an end-to-end total patient engagement platform that goes beyond care, intake, and scheduling. It encompasses every communication necessary between the healthcare provider and patient, and this is an app that drives loyalty, revenue, and population health. Luma Health intends to build patient engagement in a meaningful and communicative way that builds ongoing relationships between patients and providers. This app adapts to the individual patient and their care journey.
patientNOW
An integrated solution for patient engagement and practice management, this app is designed for aesthetic medical practices such as plastic surgery and cosmetic dermatology. There is a barcode system that is designed to reduce indexing of patient records, and consent forms are enabled to be electronically signed. There is an online patient portal for patients to be able to access prescriptions and manage their medical histories. Patients are also able to message their doctor securely, and the management tools on offer allow for everything from appointment scheduling to inventory management through patientNOW.
Patient Engagement Mobile Apps Improving Efficiency & Outcomes
Mobile health apps have proven beneficial in rural areas, as these are places with limited access to medical facilities. With a shortage of specialists, patient engagement mobile apps allow primary care providers to use mobile technology to access specialists who can aid with patient care. In addition, patient mobile apps allow patients to feel more connected, improve overall compliance with care plans, and improve outcomes. It is important to understand your patients and utilize the technology that will cater to their needs the most. Are your patients having trouble remembering their discharge instructions? Help them with AdviceCoach. Do you need an innovative and cloud-based EMR? Look into Practice Fusion.
