Go back five years and the sort of apps we had on our phones were mainly for fun. Angry Birds, Temple Run, Paper Toss. All designed to while away the time during boring meetings and tedious train commutes.
Fast forward and now apps are much more than a mildly amusing distraction when we really should be doing something else. This is particularly true in healthcare where you can monitor everything from your fitness level to exercises for your eyes.
But now apps are being taken seriously by the medical profession too. They’re being used for diagnosis, clinical information and emergency treatment. They can help hospitals run more efficiently, solve problems, improve patient care, free up resources and even help save lives.
These may seem to be mighty big claims for such a small device. But we have recently produced an app for Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals NHS Trust, (the Emergency Medicine Handbook) which helps doctors and nurses in A&E save lives, so we know this to be true.
So should developers be looking at both private and public healthcare and if so what should they be offering – particularly when the NHS in the UK is strapped for cash?
Time is money: An app takes time to develop and build. It takes time from the client to ensure it is what they want and will work for them. That time has to be an investment. Therefore for an app to be cost-effective it has to be about saving time as well as money in the long run. For a busy hospital this is crucial. Take time out of a doctor’s day and that will take away time he or she can be spending with a patient.
On average people look at their phone at 07:31 am and use it for three hours and 16 minutes every day. Health professionals are no different. It makes sense then for things like staff rosters, appointments, agendas etc. to be made available via an app. This saves time when they may have to go back to their office to check admin on their computer. If they can do this with an app while on their way to work or during a break then so much the better.
Not only does an app work for staff when it comes to appointments but it works for patients and visitors too. A hospital information app (satnav for hospitals using iBeacon) can again save time and money. How many times have you got to a hospital and then been unable to find the clinic or the ward? A late or even a missed appointment has an impact.
BYOD: Back in the day mobile phones were banned from hospitals because of the fear they would interfere with medical equipment. Now things have moved on. Even if you have a work phone most people will also bring in their own personal device too. An app can be downloaded on both.
From the healthcare provider’s point of view it means there is no additional cost. No extra hardware is needed. No additional burden for the IT staff. This cuts down on time and money. When developing an app it has to be easy to update, download and work across a range of devices.
Keep in mind the style of app that people would use in their personal life and you will have the level about right. This is not to say that people in the health sector can’t do technology. But why make life more complicated than you need?
For many organisations integration into old systems adds prohibitive cost and complexity that prevents projects progressing.
Security: Security is a concern when it comes to patient information. We may be more open than necessary on Facebook or YouTube but that is our choice. Few of us would want an embarrassing illness to be made public (unless you want a slot on Channel 4).
Patient confidentiality is crucial so no app which is publicly downloadable will contain that sort of information. Developers also need to know that there are guidelines which decide to what extent the app is considered a medical device and therefore different rules apply.
However, most apps which can help health professionals are not top secret. For example the Emergency Medicine Handbook App we produced gives guidelines on dosage, how to treat a severe burn and a host of information which could be useful for us all.
And of course if there was an app which did need to be available to health professionals only that additional security can be factored into the device.
Health apps are a growing market, not just for us as individuals but for the professionals too. So when your doctor is checking an app on her/his phone remember it could save your life.
By Kevin Harrington, Chairman of Results Through Digital
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