Smartphones in Healthcare

Mary Eisenberg

Some Statistics…

• According to Manhattan Research, the number of physicians who own smartphones (iPhone, Droid, etc) will increase from 64% in 2009 to 81% by 2012.

• Early 2010- Nearly 6,000 health-related apps available in the Apple AppStore. 73% of these were intended for consumer/patients and 27% targeted to healthcare providers (doctors, nurses).

There has been an obvious and steady increase in Smartphone ownership from 2006 to 2009, and the numbers have continued to increase (especially with the release of the new iPhone 4 and Android phones)

Why Smartphones for Healthcare professionals?

• Handheld• Inexpensive (compared to other health IT

formats)• User-friendly• Instantly accessible

Applications

• Physician apps: include alerts, medical reference tools, diagnostic tools, continuing medical education, and patient records programs.

• Consumer-oriented apps: include those for medication control, home care, managing conditions, and wellness/fitness.

Smartphones in Professional Health!

• According to Manhattan Research, the number of physicians who own smartphones will spike from 64% in 2009 to 81% in 2012.

• Demonstrates that more and more doctors and nurses are performing tasks that would previously be done on desktop computers, on Smartphones.

Types of Medical Apps

• There are countless apps that are geared toward medical professionals and students…

• Med student study guides, clinical consult, anatomy, drug reference

Physicians Can Use Apps for Anything and Everything!

• Digital Imaging Apps: Eroentgen Radiology Dx- helps radiologists identify the most appropriate radiology exam for a patient

• Instant ECG Apps• ER apps: Vigilance App helps doctors track patients vital signs,

transmit live videos from exam and Ors, receive alerts when patients are in distress even before nurses can page them

• Obstetrics: AirStrip OB provides real time, remote access to fetal heart tracings, contraction patterns, nurses notes, and vital signs. Doctors can monitor different signs of labor even when they are not by the patients side. This increases the OB’s ongoing interaction with the labor and delivery department, and gives doctors real-time data

• Lab apps: instantly deliver lab and blood work results as soon as completed. If abnormal, immediately email a patient follow-up instructions

Some Barriers

Some Barriers... continued

• It is often difficult to distinguish safe, reputable medical applications from the less credible ones.

• Downloading medical apps does not make you a doctor! If something is wrong, contact a real-life medical professional.

• The FDA’s “looming presence”- unclear whether medical apps are “medical devices” under the FDA

Apple AppStore Reviews• I have reviewed a few of the

popular medical applications available for purchase and download in the Apple AppStore.

• I found that while many of the consumer-based apps are informative, they lack credibility and could be improved.

App Review: Pocket Pharmacologist

The Pocket Pharmacologist App has a huge encyclopedia of medications and drugs. Much of the information it offers is reputable and informative, but it doesn’t offer a complete list of drug interactions. I would be extremely cautious while using this app, and always check with my doctor/pharmacist before mixing medications.

App Review: NCLEX RN Quiz Cardcs

• This App could be extremely beneficial to me personally in the next few years. I will be entering college next year as a nursing student, and while I was unable to test out these flash cards, the App was rated 5 stars by 1190 people. The beauty of this is that it is only $2.99, and could provide a lot of help to students on a college budget!

App Review: Medscape from WebMD

• I downloaded this popular application for free, but it required a fairly detailed registration, in which it asked if I was a patient/consumer, medical student, physician, etc. This was significant because the app obviously caters to both consumers and medical professionals, and has a wide range of information available.

• This app offers a plethora of information regarding drug interactions, conditions, news, reference, procedures, and protocols.

Sources

• Manhattan Research

• http://www.chcf.org/~/media/Files/PDF/H/PDF%20HowSmartphonesChangingHealthCare.pdf