Mobile Health Apps That Transform The Way Clinics Serve Patients

Medical facilities and health clinics use mobile healthcare apps to interact with patients and track their progress and care. Many European countries experienced rapid adoption of mobile apps as a response to COVID-19 in 2021, primarily to handle appointments for mass vaccination initiatives. But, in the present and future, how might hospitals, clinics, and medical institutions benefit more broadly from health technology?

In a recent blog post, we looked into remote patient monitoring (RPM) apps. We're now looking into how mobile apps can help with clinic accessibility, administrative processes, and patient communication. From appointment scheduling to prescription administration to medical record access, this technology is revolutionizing how clinics and patients interact.

Let's say you're thinking of developing an app for your clinic or hospital. In that case, we'll also provide you some pointers on how to create an app that addresses the most pressing patient concerns.

What is mHealth and why does it matter in the clinic-patient relationship?

Mobile apps have the power to transform the quality of care in a multitude of ways, including:

• Convenience
• Quality of service
• Trust and comfort

Apps provide convenience by allowing people to acquire what they need without having to attend a clinic or wait for a phone call to connect. More importantly, patients experience being looked after even while they are at home. Patients' confidence and pleasure in their ability to reach their trusted clinic grows as a result of a substantial increase in convenience.

The upside of mobile apps for clinics, medical centers, and hospitals

Mobile apps can make doctors’ work easier and improve the quality of care by making medical records more accessible and giving them new ways to connect with patients, especially in long-term recovery scenarios.

Behind the reception counter, patient-facing apps can help streamline the booking process or facilitate doctor-to-patient communication without the need for long hold times over the phone.  Practices can save on precious resources and potentially reduce wait times on in-office interactions with these digital alternatives.

Mobile apps can be used for health monitoring and day-to-day recovery for patients, providing comfort and convenience in at-home care. In addition, faster digital booking and educational content encourage patients to engage online.

In some cases, electronic medical records could be accessed by patient users, too, allowing patients to refer back to their medical history and actively participate in monitoring their progress.

Healthcare apps bringing about change

There are a lot of hospitals, clinics and medical centers with exemplary apps, as well as re-brandable independent apps that help extend medical practices. Here is a diverse sampling of apps to explore as you research solutions for your healthcare institution or practice:

Healthcare access

NHS App

The NHS App, which is owned and operated by the UK's National Health Service, is a safe and simple method to access a variety of NHS services via smartphone or tablet. Patients can use the app to receive secure access to their medical records, schedule and manage GP/hospital/clinic appointments, order repeat medications, register as an organ donor, share their COVID vaccination status, and call the NHS 111 service for urgent medical questions.

The NHS App is available to all citizens in England aged 13 or over and registered with an NHS GP practice.

Patient self-management

Comunicare

Comunicare is a digital care companion that allows patients and carers to communicate more effectively. For healthcare organizations, doctors, and patients, the solution includes a platform and apps. The goal is to provide people with chronic diseases with personalized information and support while they are on their treatment path. Cancer, heart failure, multiple myeloma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and diabetes are currently supported diseases.

Comunicare is approved for use by a number of healthcare institutions in France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and England.

Well@Home

The Well@Home platform is a clinically validated digital health app directed at health professionals in hospitals, private clinics, and private practices. It provides a complete portal that physicians and patients can use to fulfill the patient journey optimally. In addition, Well@Home features a library of carepaths for different conditions. Carepaths can also be custom-built according to the patients’ needs.

The Well@Home app is widely used by healthcare services in Belgium and is being evaluated for possible adoption in Ireland, Netherlands and Sweden.

Joint surgery rehabilitation

moveUP

Through the moveUP app, patients can get optimal treatment and rehabilitation for hip and knee arthroplasty, both before and after surgery. Health care professionals get insights and control over the treatment of their patients to achieve higher patient satisfaction and better outcomes in an efficient way.

The Well@Home app is used by healthcare services in Belgium, Netherlands, Germany and  the United Kingdom.

Patient monitoring and guidance

RemeCare

RemeCare provides care pathway management and remote patient monitoring to support health care professionals in understanding the patient’s experience beyond the hospital walls. Reported data guides care decisions more efficiently to improve patient’s quality of life and outcomes. Care pathways are available to support patients within these categories: oncology, neurology, cardiology, gastroenterology, rheumatology and pneumology.

RemeCare is being used in a number of hospitals in Belgium.

Diabetes management

mySugr

The mySugr App makes your diabetes management easier: you can easily record your blood sugar values and other health data on your smartphone. In the mySugr App, you can synchronize these data with each other and find individual data quickly and directly if required.

The mySugr app is used by over 3 million users worldwide. It is available in English and most European languages, Russian and Japanese.

Cancer patient care

Noona

Noona is a cloud-based mobile service designed to capture patient-reported outcomes in Oncology. The app connects cancer clinics with patients online to improve patients’ quality of life, treatment outcomes and improve clinic efficiency.

Noona  is available for use throughout the Americas, Asia-Pacific and European regions.

Planning your mHealth app

If you’re ready to create an app experience, consider what features will help your clinic save time and grow. Equally important is research to find out what your patients want in an app. If patients don’t feel they’re getting what they need, app usage will suffer.

While patients differ from one specialized clinic to the next, most patients look for a user-friendly experience, minimal load times, and easy communication with medical professionals and staff. An app with easy-to-use features and a solid and transparent privacy policy can help you serve patients more quickly and effectively and increase their satisfaction with your practice. But don’t be afraid to do some research or focus groups to find out what features get your patients excited about your endeavor.

Providing new ways for patients to interact with trusted providers, allowing patients to self-manage bookings, and potentially helping patients cut down on unnecessary visits and costs are all reasons for patients to love using mHealth apps. And the rising mHealth trend is expected to keep going strong in the future. 

AllBright Health helps clinics get started creating a mobile app through scoping meetings to define requirements, providing a single point of contact for ease of project management, and sharing interactive demo presentations throughout the development process. If you are ready to change the patient experience with your mobile app, get in touch with our experts to discuss how we can help you build an app that enables you to serve your audience more fully.

If you are interested in building a healthcare app, feel free to get in touch with us: hello@allbright.io.