Why demand for health apps and medical apps are increasing substantially?

Thanks to the global pandemic, health apps, and medical apps have become a part of the new normal. People who were hesitant to use health and medical apps used them for the first time during these challenging times. Doctors and patients found a means to connect in medical apps; there were restrictions on movement, crowding, and public places. The global mHealth apps market size was at USD 38.2 billion in 2021, reflecting this change in attitude towards medical and health apps. This value is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.8% from 2022 to 2030.

Even before the pandemic took the world by storm, there was already a substantial increase in m-health solutions because of the increasing use of mobile technology. The use of smartphones and the global pandemic have given birth to health apps and medical apps, which provide convenience to doctors and patients by keeping track of personal health, appointments, and doctor consultation.

Why do doctors use health apps or medical apps?

Some medical apps are specifically for doctors, and the layman might call them Doctors Apps. These apps help healthcare providers access health records, and pill prescriptions, help in diagnosis, facilitate monitoring of patients' conditions, communicate with patients, etc., which makes time-consuming tasks simple and easy. 

Also, they optimize how doctors store, share and interpret data. It reduces the time taken to monitor a patient's health or communicate with patients. This will help doctors focus on a more effective treatment plan by reducing administrative workload. Besides helping with administrative work, medical apps help them be up-to-date in medicine as they possess a high level of professional knowledge, and assist with diagnostics and treatment plans. Medical apps for patients store information regarding prescription drugs and their effects.

In the same way, these even help them participate in a professional and social network, leading to their medical practice performance. This way, doctors are coming close to technology to avoid market competition by simply opting for mobile apps for all such tasks.

Why do patients use healthcare or medical apps?

Healthcare apps or medical apps that are aimed only at patients are generally referred to as patient apps. Such apps are becoming even more popular as they assist people in health management, monitoring doctor appointments, etc.

Also, health apps help patients schedule doctor appointments and ask for advice or consultation from doctors. Such apps are highly mobile and make it easy for people to perform daily tasks.

Most of the popular health apps focus on consumers. This fore-mostly focus on a user's daily life helps them maintain a particular course of treatment or a healthy lifestyle. These perform various calculations, provide checklists for proper guidance, and send scheduled reminders to help them maintain a healthy way of living.

Did you know that fitness-focused apps are becoming the most popular? It is because these apps use sensors to track heart rhythms, energy expenditure, hydration, etc., and help synchronize data and display it in an easy way to understand. In a nutshell, such apps help maintain a healthy everyday life by focusing on a healthy diet.

Numerous health apps focus on Women's health as people now understand that women face more medical issues. That is why they keep their app operations-centric to women and help them solve their problems. Some apps even provide advanced tracking features for physical and emotional states and also furnish informational resources to women's health.

The demand for Health apps and Medical apps is substantially increased because they helped everyone immensely during the trying times of the global pandemic. Medical apps and health apps solved truckloads of problems, becoming an integral part of the new normal and our lifestyle.

Why are the demands for health apps and medical apps increasing substantially?

Let us read about the problems they solved, which led them to see a substantial increase in their demand.

1. It was next to impossible to find an unoccupied bed in hospitals in these trying times, and medical apps made it possible to treat low-risk patients while they were at their homes. 
   Since low-risk patients were treated at their homes, those with severe conditions were kept at hospitals, leading to better management of patients during the Covid-19 pandemic. 
    
2. During the pandemic, consultations took place via zoom or google meet, thus keeping the risk of virus exposure at bay for patients and doctors and preventing virus transmission to patients who seek consultations for reasons other than the coronavirus. 
   Medical apps also helped save resources as people got treated online and from their homes, minimizing unnecessary usage of safety gear.
    
3. Some people lived in remote areas, making it hard for them to consult doctors during the pandemic. These people were more affected by the pandemic as they already lived in remote areas, which meant no easy access to doctors, and the pandemic made the no easy access to no access at all. 
   Medical apps helped them consult doctors, make bookings, and talk to them without changing their environment. Doctors supervised such patients via meetings; they monitored the patient's exercises and activities and rectified something amiss. 
    
4. Good medical apps ensured that patient data was kept safe during their online consultations and even after that. 
   There has always been a massive risk of patients' location and other details getting leaked if patients and doctors have a video call on an unsecured network. Medical apps assured patients that they were always safe while using them.
    
5. Healthcare wearables and medical apps combined made remote monitoring easy. These wearables informed doctors of a patient's heartbeat, blood pressure, etc.
    
6. Many people faced financial troubles during the pandemic. Medical apps and health apps made it possible for people to avoid spending money on petrol by allowing them to talk to doctors from the comforts of their own houses; they were no longer required to traverse to the hospital. 

Some essential features of Health apps

Tracking features 

This feature is also known as the monitoring feature, and it enables patients to monitor glucose levels, heart rate, blood pressure, pulse calories, etc.; it helps doctors to keep track of a patient's rehabilitation progress.

Scheduling

This feature enables doctors to work with the calendar and manage appointments. It also allows patients to schedule their medicine intake.

Integration with EHR/EMR

Health apps must provide integration with the electronic medical record as it provides a convenient way for both patients and doctors to learn more about the medical history of a patient.

Payment

 Adding gateways to health and medical apps is essential as it enables patients to pay for medical bills, services, or insurance quickly. 

Patients can make all types of payments for general hospital admissions, emergency rooms, visit a doctor, etc. It gets easier for patients/ users a great deal if they get all the things in one place.

Some other features of medical and health apps are as follows:

Other features

Push notifications prove to be a great feature as they act as a constant reminder and provide continuous monitoring and alerts to patients and users. 

Hospitals and doctors continuously need to keep on improving their services, for which they require feedback and reviews from patients. So, it is essential to provide a review feature. Analytics, Prescription, and Photo galleries are some other integral features that make health apps even more helpful.
 

Suggested Reading: 

Starting Your Journey in Medical App Development: What to Expect?

Conclusion

A good health app focuses on the end-user, is easy to use, install, and works properly. Medical and health apps must keep user data safe and preserve sensitive information. 

Numerous apps like Healthy lifestyle apps, Mental health apps, Weight loss apps, Doctor on-demand apps, Patient medical education apps, and medical apps for patients are becoming most popular than ever.

If you are double-minded about getting medical and health apps, you should definitely get one made for your organization now that people have seen how helpful they are. 

Get in touch with AppsRhino to get a medical/ health app exactly like how you want to have it.