The Future of Healthcare is Already at Your Fingertips [INFOGRAPHIC]

From the 8 August 2012 post at Mashable Lifestyle

The mobile healthcare industry has made significant strides within the healthcare provider community. Rock Health found 75% of small and medium size medical and dental offices will purchase tablets within the next year. And almost 40% of physicians use medical apps on a daily basis.

The digital healthcare field is also alleviating the costs of patientcare and increasing the scale at which doctors and nurses can help people. The healthcare industry is already strained, Ziegler says, and a shortage of primary care physicians in years to come will only exacerbate the problem. She says mobile apps can bridge that gap.

But patients have been slower to realize the impact apps could have, Ziegler says, potentially because the apps force people to take notice of their health.

“No one wants to actively track what they are always doing, so we really want to make the experience passive,” she told us, adding, they are working to make tech and apps that “provide incentives for people to manage health more efficiently.”

Consumers are also generally unaware of how quickly the space of mobile health is growing, David Tao, Chief Research Officer at Greatist, tells Mashable. He says once consumers realize the vast industry already accessible, more consumers will begin utilizing the products.

“Mobile health isn’t a replacement for healthcare, it’s a supplement,” Tao says. “These companies aren’t replacing doctors’ keen eye or experience, but the apps are just bettering communication between doctor and patient.”

Related Resources

• Health and Wellness Information and Tracking Apps (Flahiff’s Health/Medical Resources site)
• Health and Fitness Tracking Apps (Flahiff’s Health/Medical Resource site)
• And these may be helpful when selecting health apps
  • How to Choose A Better Health App (by LEXANDER V. PROKHOROV, MD, PHD  at KevinMD.com on August 8, 2011) contains advice in the following areas
  • Set realistic expectations
  • Avoid apps that promise too much
  • Research the developers
  • Choose apps that use techniques you’ve heard of
  • See what other users say
  • Test apps before committing
• iMedical apps has mobile medical app reviews and commentary by medical professionals. Most apps are about  apps geared toward professionals and are not free.
• The iMedical app forum now includes a medical librarian corner, with some patient/consumer apps
• Evaluating Health/Medical Information
  • The Penn State Medical Center Library has a great guide to evaluate health information on the Internet.
    • The tips include
      • Remember, anyone can publish information on the internet!
      • If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
      • If the Web site is primarily about selling a product, the information may be worth checking from another source.
      • Look for who is publishing the information and their education, credentials, and if they are connected with a trusted coporation, university or agency.
      • Check to see how current the information is.
      • Check for accuracy. Does the Web site refer to specific studies or organizations?
  • The Family Caregiver Alliance has a Web page entitled Evaluating Medical Research Findings and Clinical Trials Topics include
    • General Guidelines for Evaluating Medical Research
    • Getting Information from the Web
    • Talking with your Health Care Provider
  • Additional Resources
    • Consumer’s Guide to Taking Charge of Health Information (Harvard Center for Risk Analysis)
    • How to Evaluate Health Information on the Internet (US National Cancer Institute)9iiu9
    • Quackwatch (a private corporation operated by Stephen Barrett, MD)
  • And a Rumor Control site of Note (in addition to Quackwatch)
    • National Council Against Health Fraud  National Council Against Health Fraud is a nonprofit health agency fousing on health misinformation, fruad, and quackery as public health problems. Links to publications, position papers and more.

Related articles

• Phones, tablets may become most popular tech devices for docs since the stethoscope (infographic) (medcitynews.com)
• Does smartphone = smart healthcare? (docmate.com.au)
• Mobile health apps: a new opportunity for healthcare marketers (worldofdtcmarketing.com)
• More Consumers Get Health Info On Mobile Devices (informationweek.com)
• INFOGRAPHIC: Smartphone = smarter healthcare? (mobile-ent.biz)
• How Smartphones Are Facilitating Better Health Care (thinkprogress.org)
• U.S. HealthWorks Adopts iTriage App to Connect with Patients (prweb.com)
• Who Do You Trust When it Comes to Healthcare Information? [INFOGRAPHIC] (mashable.com)
• How Smartphones Are Changing Health Care (iphonesavior.com)