There are a growing number of physicians spending more time online using Smartphones; mobile phones that combine online access to information with PDA functionality, to access medical and pharmaceutical resources during the course of their busy day.
Companies like Apple, Research in Motion & Microsoft are creating & providing new applications to suggest prescriptions, identify symptoms and provide diagnostic suggestions helping physicians make more informed decisions.
Avoiding medication errors
The iPhone currently has more than 1,000 medical apps aimed at both patients and physicians to better manage health and care. There are applications in the form of a mobile checklist designed to provide a series of checklists to be completed before beginning a surgical procedure, increasing survival rates during surgery.
The application allows looking up drug interactions, side effect profiles & adverse reactions. It really helps them prescribe the right medication and avoid adverse drug events.
For a doctor, the more information he can access at the patient’s bedside, the better he can care for them. The data on handwritten index cards leaves plenty of room for error but digitizing gives an easily accessible central database of patient information on the handhelds.
Keeping Updated
When a drug is recalled, the pharmaceutical company can update their drug database immediately so that physicians can have access to the latest information.
Using e-prescription application in iPhone, doctors can submit their prescription electronically through the Smartphone, & can see an electronic record of the patient’s medication history & review laboratory and blood test results. The doctor can trace the past medical record & prescriptions of the patients in case they miss out to inform about something like the name of medicines taken or allergies.
The fire department & ambulance crew can use mobile applications to send vital signs & data to doctors waiting at the hospital so that they can be better prepared. These applications also help to eliminate billing errors, have a professional communication with colleagues, appointment reminders among other features.
Future
Technology is growing fast & Smartphones will soon become more integrated into the process of delivering care. A doctor is moving around, they’re going between the hospital, the office, and their home. The mobile device fits into the physician’s workflow. While personal visits will never go away, these could help reduce expenses of patients by eliminating redundant office visits.
Mobile applications could be used to provide access to care in under-served, rural areas in remote parts of the world as even in the most remote parts of the world, they may not have hospitals or clinics, but they have cell phone coverage.
With current price structures, mobile apps are more cost effective than a full Electronic Medical Record (EMR). Physicians are waiting for more interactive applications that increase their productivity.
In future, the mDevice will become the main tool a doctor uses in attending to patients. M-Health is about restructuring healthcare by changing communication patterns, workflow, behavior, and reimbursement systems and future of m-health looks quite good.
