With the tech world expanding globally, entrepreneurs are constantly looking for innovative and advanced ideas to explore. And one such innovative idea that is transforming the healthcare industry is mHealth applications. With the medical sector working towards complete digitization, adopting various mHealth solutions has received the necessary push amid the global pandemic.
The healthcare industry is steadily moving away from its traditional methods of service to a more digitized functioning. Moreover, the healthcare sector has always applied innovative technologies to further the quality of treatment and care provided to patients.
Besides, the pandemic has also put further demands on the healthcare sector to adopt mHealth applications. These apps have been instrumental in enhancing patient care and hospital management, offering telehealth and telemedicine facilities to remote locations, and reducing the overall cost of treatment.
Factors Driving the Growth of mHealth Apps
Let's now look at some statistics to understand the growth of mHealth applications worldwide. The mHealth apps market, globally, was valued at $40 billion in 2020. This figure is predicted to grow at a CAGR of 17.7% during the periods 2021 and 2028. This phenomenal growth of mHealth development services can be attributed mainly to the spread of smartphones, availability of internet services, increased awareness of health issues and the growing need for better healthcare solutions.
According to Statista, the number of mHealth apps in the Apple App Store in the first quarter of 2015 was less than 30,000. Since then, this number has dramatically increased to 53,979 apps in the first quarter of 2021. During the last count in the first quarter of 2021, there were 53,054 healthcare apps, a 6.51% increase from the previous period.
In this article, let's get to know the factors driving the increased implementation of mHealth development services and the importance of such apps.
The prevalence of smartphones and the spread of the internet to remote locations have immensely contributed to the growth of mHealth apps. The recent pandemic has also pushed the adoption into high gear.
Every healthcare app development company is looking for ways to ensure minimal patient-doctor physical contact, especially during these social distancing times. The need to have physical face-to-face appointments with the physicians can be reduced without impacting the quality of care.
mHealth development services are also bringing greater management solutions for hospitals and care centers. These applications help hospitals manage their inventory, dispatch their medical personnel to areas that need them, keep track of patient medical records and address other operational challenges.
Major Categories of mHealth App Development Services
1. Telemedicine
With the help of telemedicine, it is possible to provide advanced treatment and care to patients in remote locations. Besides, telemedicine helps elderly patients and those with chronic conditions consult with doctors via videos, procure medication, and receive test results and online diagnoses.
Patients can now connect with their physicians or care providers from any place through their mobile phones. On the other hand, doctors can easily monitor a patient's conditions and devise treatment plans accordingly without any delay.
2. Health and Wellness
The number of health and wellness applications available in the market is a testament to the fact that the scope for such apps, especially among millennials, is high. There is an increased awareness among the population about the general health conditions and the importance of staying healthy.
Health and wellness apps allow users to keep track of their exercises, diet, caloric control, track sleep, and manage medications.
3. Health Management
Any Healthcare app development company trying to make a mark in the marketplace is offering health management apps to the public. These apps keep track of patients' vitals, health records, prescriptions, and doctor's appointments in one place.
Since it is possible for doctors to access the health records of patients and come up with preventive care methods before the symptoms manifest themselves. Moreover, patients don't always remember all the symptoms by the time they meet with their doctors. The apps can alert doctors and care providers about even a tiny variation from regular readings.
Benefits of mHealth Solutions
- mHealth applications are helpful for patients as they can save a trip to the hospital or reduce their hospital stay.
- These applications improve the decision-making capabilities of doctors and increase diagnostic accuracy.
- mHealth solutions come as a boon to patients in remote locations, the elderly, and patients with chronic conditions who need regular medical assistance.
- Since these apps provide real-time communication between patients and doctors, it will help provide immediate treatment in case of emergencies.
- With all the medical records accessible and in one place, faulty diagnosis and errors in treatment procedures can be instantly highlighted.
- mHealth solutions reduce healthcare expenses due to improved accuracy, connectivity, and adherence. Moreover, the need to undergo many unnecessary tests is also significantly reduced.
- It eases hospitals' administrative and management functioning from collecting and managing health records of patients, keeping track of medications and managing inventory.
- These apps can provide personalized and custom treatment options that center around a patient's specific conditions.
- Helps in tracking symptoms so that preventive treatment measures can be undertaken.
- Additionally, these apps also help in ensuring medication adherence. The apps can send alerts or notifications that prompt users to consume medicines, food, water and even let them know when medication stock decreases.
- In addition to providing treatment, mHealth apps are most helpful in delivering health-related information to patients and others.
- Unlike other apps, mHealth apps improve doctor-patient communication. They allow doctors to come up with instant solutions based on reports and tests gathered via the applications.
Wrapping Up
Almost every major healthcare app development company is coming up with new and innovative ways to improve doctor-patient communication and quality of treatment using the convenience of mobile phones. Such apps are proving crucial in disbursing high-medical care to patients in all locations. Regardless of the functionality you wish to have in the mHealth app, it is vital to pay attention to privacy and security concerns while designing the application.
We are introducing one more website for you related to Health Accepting Guest Posts category is A Class Blogs.