Technology is changing the way that people live their lives and it is also starting to change the healthcare industry. You may notice that when you go to the doctor or even the dentist that you are given some sort of survey on an electronic device. This is a recent development in healthcare technology that is making the lives of medical and healthcare professionals easier, allowing you to get quality care. Can the latest healthcare apps improve the way the doctor’s office runs as well as make the patient experience better?
The medical field has been making leaps and bounds the past several decades in the field of surgeries and minimally invasive procedures. New medicines and topical creams have come out making the patient’s life less painful while letting them live their normal everyday life.
Yet with all of this progress, office administrators have a lot of paperwork that has to be filled out and shuffled around. Luckily technology is starting to find ways to transform the offices of doctors and medical professionals. Even patient referrals are moving away from the fax machine! These innovations include apps and systems that are designed to speed up the paperwork and allows professionals to have a wealth of knowledge at their fingertips.
Increasing your efficiency and productivity has never been easier in the medical field. With so many apps and advertisements, it can be hard to know what to use. Here are several different items to consider and health care apps that you can use to transform your office and practice.
Systems
The body is made up of different systems that all work together to make up a body that can do a lot of different activities when it is functioning properly. Medical practices are also made up of different systems that when working and performing at their peak performance, everything is smooth and functional. Not every medical practice is exactly the same. A trauma operating room is a lot different from a dermatologist’s room. The same goes for different offices, a chiropractor’s office will function differently from a pediatrician’s office. That doesn’t mean one office or practice is better than the other, they all play crucial parts to patients when they are in need of health care. But since they are different they each have different needs that will have to be addressed when creating an environment that is easy for patients to understand and use.
Consider the space in your office. Is there a lot of traffic with patients coming in and out all of the time? Do patients who come in on a regular basis for help with ongoing conditions? Which is the preferred device? Android or iPhone? How technologically savvy would you like your office to be? The answers will be different for everyone but they are there to get you thinking about the apps and systems your office uses.
Epocrates
This app is listed as the first because it is one of the bests apps that is used by a variety of medical professionals. This is not an app that you download and it only has one feature, this app has a variety of uses which makes it very versatile for any professional medical environment. It is available for both iOS and Android phone users so anyone in the office can have access to it if they need it. To use you simply download it onto the smartphone of your choice and register. The app is free to use but you can unlock extra features if you upgrade to Epocrates Plus, which costs 174.00 USD per year.
This app is widely used because it contains a lot of information about drugs and drug interactions. A patient could be trying out different mental illness pills and is also taking a number of other pills already for different problems. This app allows you to check to see if there are any harmful interactions that can happen if you start the patient on a new pill. Instead of flipping through textbooks and manuals you can pull out your phone, enter some information in and get results quickly.
Another unique feature of this app allows you to identify pills that your patient may have. If you aren’t sure what your patient has been taking or they are not sure what they have been taking, you can identify the pill if there is no medical record of their medication. The app requires you to enter in the physical characteristics of the pill and it will give you the different possibilities of what it could be.
UpToDate
Made for hospitals and professional medical providers this resource is a great option for any place that would like to have access to information quickly and easily. This software can be used on an iPad or similar device to show patients different images of the body and what is going on inside their body. This is a great educational tool for both the patient and the professional. The professional can also learn by accessing different articles that are recent while exploring different diseases and symptoms to refresh their knowledge.
Since this product is so professional it does come at a cost of 495 USD. It is free to download UpToDate but to access any of the information your company will need to subscribe and pay the fee. UpToDate is extremely popular because it is available in 9 different languages and includes a variety of high-resolution graphics. It is a great learning tool and a good place to go when you need to do some serious research.
The software has a newly designed user interface that is easy to use and intuitive so any health care employee can easily navigate through the different pages of information. There is also a customizable search feature that lets you tailor the search results to your company’s needs.
Human Anatomy Atlas
Designed for medical students alike, this app is chalked full of interactive diagrams and questions that allow you to make the most of your precious study time. If you are like most medical students you are extremely busy and always on-the-go, which can make studying hard and leaving it until early morning or late evening. To save some time, Human Anatomy Atlas lets you carry a wealth of information on your portable device.
This app has a lot of different study options. There is a muscle option, anatomy and physiology option, and an animation option. These let you focus on specific parts of the human body and allow you to tailor your learning to whatever class you are taking. There is also a section that is available for instructors that allows them to use it with their students. Aspiring medical professionals in high school can also use it if they take anatomy or physiological class of some kind. While this app is not free it does come at a low cost that is affordable for students, one copy costs 24.99 USD. For a classroom setting, there are different pricing options that allow both the teacher and students to have access to the software.
There are many features that make this app a great learning resource for any student. The images are high definition and detailed so every feature and part can be seen. There is also a slicing featuring that allows users to take an organ and dissect it to see different angles and views of the body. There are also questions and definitions for each body part and the major systems of the body. Ridiculous Latin pronunciation got you down? Don’t worry, this app has you covered with the pronunciation feature so you can sound like a real medical professional in your class.
Andaman7
A lot of the apps have been focused on mainly the office and business side of the medical scene. But most people know that patients or caregivers also have to have their information stored accurately. If not it can give the doctor not enough information or make a misdiagnosis. For faster visits and accurate diagnosis,’ it is also important for the patient to have access to all of their information.
That is where Andaman7 steps in. This app lets you track your medical information and stores it all in one place so you don’t have to go looking everywhere for your medical records. This is also ideal if you are a caregiver for someone else and need to keep track of all of their sensitive and private information.
What exactly can you keep track of? It’s a great question because not all apps let you keep track of the same information. Andaman7 lets you add documents by taking a picture of it with your camera and importing information. You can track allergies, medical imaging, test results, doctors visits, hospital visits, nutrition, vaccinations, and more. This keeps everything tidy and organized and allows you to cut down on the number of important documents you have to safe.
It also lets you save this all to a backup account, whether that be your PC or some other kind of electronic device. This is made possible through the Google Chrome extension that is available with the app. You can also share information with 6 different trusted individuals. This is helpful if you are caring for a family member that has several different caregivers or different people who take them to different appointments. This feature also helps keep family members or other professionals informed of how the visits went and what changes or improvements have been made.
Doximity
With the explosion of social media apps, it makes sense that there would be a social media app that is specialized for healthcare professionals. This is a great resource for staying in touch with different colleagues and professors that you went to school with. It is also a great way to meet new professionals and specialists so you can message and socialize with them if you have questions about a different specialty. This is great because you will not have to filter through your friends on other social media platforms to find your professional colleagues.
Doximity is available for both iOS and Android phones. This app is free to install. The only catch is you have to create an account, but that is also free. The low cost is great for anyone in the medical field or those aspiring to be in the medical field because it lets them start making connections early on in their career. There are also job and volunteer opportunities that are available as users connect with other healthcare professionals.
Another favorite feature of Doximity is that you can easily fax documents to and from your mobile device. This kind of sharing is HIPPA approved and is great when you are working with another doctor that is from a different area or building than where you are at.
CareZone
This is another app that is focused on getting patient’s organized so the professionals can understand what you are taking and your past history. If you don’t need a caregiver and just want to keep track of your medications and dosages, CareZone is the app for you. There are not too many features, you cannot fax information over to doctors or look up fancy anatomical terms but you can have a place to store all of your medical information.
This app is only available for iOS devices but it is completely free to use. This app deals with all things medication so you can track when you need to take them, if you took them, scan your prescriptions, and easily access all of your information. This is nice because you will not have to set several different alarms for taking your medication, you can simply enter in the time and get a reminder and an alarm if you need it. The camera feature allows you to take pictures of your prescription and it will automatically upload all of that information so no extra typing is needed.
You will also need to think about the kinds of patients that you have and what their needs are. Do you work with elderly people on a regular basis who may struggle with fancy apps or electronics? Many patients are concerned about their information and whether it will be safe in the hands of new health care providers. A new trend that has appeared is secure printing in health care. This provides your patients with the peace of mind that their personal and private information will be safe and sound in the hands of everyone in your office.
What kind of apps do you currently use in your practice or office? Have they helped your office be more organized and efficient? Be sure to share this article with all of your medical friends and colleagues to spread the word.
from Health Care Technology – ReferralMD http://bit.ly/2HrR6sa
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