In recent years, physicians in all aspects of health care have begun adopting new technologies to improve their services and patients’ experiences. The medical imaging industry has benefited from numerous innovations, such as electronic health records and PACS systems, which facilitate the continuum of care across disparate care centers.
With the seemingly exponential rise of smartphones and tablets, more providers are beginning to utilize mobile applications to conduct certain aspects of their practices. According to a report from MedData Group, a health care marketing firm based out of Topsfield, Mass., almost two-thirds of physicians in the U.S. use health-related apps on the job.
Getting more mobile
The report, called “Physician Perception of Mobile and Connected Health,” surveyed more than 500 doctors around the country from various specialties and practice sizes. Conducted between Dec. 2013 and March 2014, the findings from the study provided insight into what kind of technologies physicians were using and what they want to see in the future, according to Xconomy.
Currently, almost half of the respondents reported that they use apps to review medication interactions. Typically, this involves looking over potential options for prescriptions to treat certain medical conditions. The second-highest usage pertained to diagnosing various injuries and illnesses. However, less than 20 percent of the survey participants indicated that they were accessing EHRs through apps.
Interestingly, the numbers underwent a significant change when the category was changed to what physicians wanted to use their applications for. To that end, more than half of respondents planned to have mobile access to their EHR software, and 40 percent aimed to conduct secure texting involving health information. Additionally, while the percentages steadily decreased, providers were also interested in mobile health monitoring and virtual consultations via devices.
Burgeoning skepticism
As part of the report, doctors’ top reasons for adopting mobile technologies for care were attributed to time and cost-efficient strategies. Yet, they still remained wary of the potential to fully connect the health care system, with 57 percent claiming it could take more than five years for it to become a reality; 9 percent believed it would never happen.
ModernHealthcare explained that although 2013 was a big year for medical apps, many experts felt the widespread use of mobile devices in the health setting was still a work in progress. In order to ease physicians’ wariness of using clinical apps, the products would need to be overseen by an authoritative organization.
“We can see within five years apps moving from novelty to mainstream,” said Murray Aitken, executive director of the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, quoted by ModernHealthcare.
The information gleaned from the study could have a significant effect on developers of health information technology as they seek to meet the demands of providers and consumers. With better insight into what physicians want and need for their practices, vendors can design improved clinical tools to facilitate care that leads to better health outcomes for patients.
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Ronny Bachrach
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