If you can’t find a smartphone app that fits what you’re looking for, you might not be searching hard enough. The Apple App Store has 1.96 million apps, while the Google Play Store has 2.87 million available for download.
Although many people think mobile health (mHealth) only applies to digital apps, its reach extends far beyond using smart devices to access personal health data, track behaviors or even Google symptoms to self-diagnose. Of course, the latter is certainly not recommended.
As we mentioned in a recent blog post, mHealth allows patients to communicate with their providers, schedule doctor’s appointments, receive care virtually and complete check-in procedures. It includes wearable and ambient sensors, mobile apps, social media and location-tracking technology.
Not only have interventions using mHealth been found to improve outcomes cost-effectively, but the technology also offers fast diagnoses, easy access to treatment and rehabilitation, support for behavior changes and rapid informed consent processes to cut wait times.
Just how can your healthcare practice employ mHealth to benefit your patients? We’ve compiled a list of five ways you can implement mobile health to increase access to care and improve patient outcomes.
Reaching Rural Residents
Approximately 55.94 million people — roughly one-fifth of the total population — live in rural areas in the United States. For these residents, mHealth provides a cost-effective and convenient way to improve access to care, bolster data accuracy and promote continuity of care through real-time communication and reduced admissions.
mHealth can also address social determinants of health (SDOH), resulting in fewer health disparities and inequities. This technology allows underserved populations to engage in healthcare services while overcoming challenges like long-distance travel and limited community programming.
Enabling Virtual Care
According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), telemedicine is defined as using telecommunications technologies to support the delivery of all kinds of medical, diagnostic and treatment-related services, usually by doctors. Physicians can use telemedicine to:
- Assess whether or not the patient needs treatment in person
- Provide certain kinds of medical care, such as mental health treatment and assessments for minor infections
- Write or renew prescriptions
- Offer certain types of therapy, such as speech and physical therapy
Some healthcare providers use telemedicine to manage medications for chronic conditions, supervise rehabilitation and self-management techniques, serve as follow-up visits once a patient is discharged, and store and forward information. In addition to saving substantial travel costs for patients and their families, telemedicine ensures that patients are seen on time and aids medical practices by reducing patient load.
Roughly 90 percent of physicians believe telemedicine improves patient access, reduces wait times, and decreases no-show rates. Almost 80 percent of primary care physicians report providing the same quality of care during telemedicine visits as in-person ones. Plus, telemedicine is projected to save the U.S. $4.3 billion annually.
Remotely Monitoring Patients
Remote patient monitoring (RPM) collects personal health data from individuals and transmits it electronically to providers. Common health metrics include blood pressure, heart rate, vital signs, and weight.
Patients can track their health from a smartphone and receive personalized care recommendations tailored to their needs. RPM also enables earlier interventions, prevents complications, and reduces long-term costs associated with chronic conditions.
RPM allows patients to easily track their health from their smartphone or other mobile device and receive personalized care advice and recommendations tailored to their specific needs. Additional advantages of RPM include earlier interventions, delay or prevention of disease complications, and a reduction in long-term costs associated with complications, such as the costs for evaluations, testing or procedures.
Disseminating Patient Education
Patient education improves health outcomes by helping individuals understand their conditions and engage in their care. Digital tools, such as mobile health apps, enhance this process by making information more accessible and customizable.
Providers using digital health solutions can better communicate with patients who are not health-literate. Furthermore, personalized education improves medication adherence, satisfaction, and self-management of chronic diseases.
Promoting Preventive Screenings
Screenings enable physicians and other clinicians to check for diseases and health conditions before there are any signs or symptoms. Take, for example, lung cancer screening.
Only six percent of patients eligible for a life-saving lung cancer screening get one, according to national averages, and a scarce 4.5 percent of those at high risk are screened. Screening with annual low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) scans for those at high risk can reduce the lung cancer death rate by up to 20 percent, but there are multi-level barriers to lung cancer screening, such as:
- The cost of the screening or copay
- Reaching people in medically underserved areas who may not engage with the health system
- A lack of plain language in educational materials about the dangers of smoking
- Complex eligibility criteria
- The stigma associated with cigarette smoking, the leading cause of lung cancer
By using automated message delivery to remind patients to schedule preventive screenings, healthcare providers can target personalized messages to defined populations, ensuring they receive relevant education and notifications. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notes, providers sending reminders about when their patients are due for screenings increases screening and testing by more than seven percent.
By leveraging RingRx’s HIPAA-compliant communication platform, healthcare practices can streamline workflows, improve patient outcomes, and build lasting relationships. Sign up for a complimentary 14-day trial today and experience the benefits of mobile health tools!
