It is a fact universally acknowledged that technology is here to stay. It has brought an onset of revolution in almost every industry. Healthcare is one of them. Before the turn of the century, healthcare was something that was not only hard to get but also required some physical effort on the part of an individual to have access. The breakthrough in mobile phone technology has probably left the biggest impact on our lives. The tech war between Google and Apple has only resulted in the rapid rise of mobile application development. Healthcare has also become more accessible with the emergence of mobile apps. In this blog, we will discuss in detail some mobile applications that have completely changed people’s approach to healthcare.

Do we need mobile technology in healthcare?

The answer to this question is simple, yes. Considering the mobile app development industry has made significant breakthroughs to enrich our lives, it goes without saying that it has done great wonders in the healthcare sector. Here are some rewarding advantages of the best health apps out there.

• Better access to the health data of patients

Mobile applications that provide electronic health records through health-smart wearables allow faster and easier access to patient’s health data. Doctors can gather and recover patients’ clinical data with just a click. This will enable them to make more comprehensive, informed, and timely medical decisions. Similarly, patients can access, organize, and keep their medical records in one place for adequate self-care. Even mobile applications enable earlier detection of chronic conditions such as glaucoma, irregular breathing patterns, heart disease, or mental health issues. Mobile health apps work to enhance our overall well-being by collecting data and detecting changes in conditions before they become severe.

• Lowers the margin for medical errors

Healthcare professionals need access to many clinical resources to make accurate diagnostic decisions. Mobile apps can help do that. Doctors and nurses can access medical and drug databases and laboratory results within minutes using the best health apps. They can even employ mobile devices and apps for drug reference manuals, medical calculators, clinical procedures, and decision support aids. These conveniences can make a significant difference in disease diagnosis and treatment approaches. Decisions made after careful evaluation tend to lower the error rate and enhance practice efficiency and understanding. From the patient’s perspective, they can receive an early warning for detecting complications and plan their treatment to nip the problem in the bud.

• Reduces the costs for both patients and medical institutes

In the modern world, access to quality healthcare has been restricted to a privileged few. But the breakthroughs in technologies have introduced virtual care services that are affordable and accessible to ordinary people. For instance, telemedicine and telehealth offer a boost in cost-effectiveness for both healthcare workers as well as service receivers. One report suggests that digital services can potentially generate approximately $300 billion in healthcare savings. That’s like saving a fortune, literally. Simply put, mobile health apps reduce the risks of chronic illnesses, thereby indirectly causing unnecessary costs to flow.

• Promotes healthy lifestyle

As more people become self-conscious about preserving a healthy lifestyle, they turn to health applications. With the popularity of progressive digital accessories such as smartwatches and fitness trackers, healthy life apps are mainly developed to allow people to stay in tip-top shape, adhere to strict diets, or better their sleep cycle. These accessories also let users track their sleep, body mass, food intake, heart rate, blood pressure, calorie intake, and other body levels. Having the means to track such data will assist people in setting safe and achievable fitness goals. Moreover, users can share these data insights with their personal trainers or close friends to gain guidance and support.

• Enhances patient-doctor communication

Communication has always been a barrier when it comes to healthcare. Healthcare professionals need to establish clear, accurate, and timely patient interactions. There are traditional in-person communication processes, but they have often proved to be inefficient. With the technological advancements in mobile app development, mobile health apps can bridge this communication gap by delivering variable tools to keep the channels of communication between patients and doctors open all the time. For instance, patients can schedule appointments with doctors and communicate with caregivers remotely using secure text messaging or video calls. Moreover, they can even order prescriptions from pharmacies and have them delivered to their homes without stepping a foot outside. Patients can even adopt a more active role in their health management.

3 Best Health Apps To Use in 2023

• Noom

Noom is a mobile app that is designed to deliver a completely revamped approach to traditional weight loss tactics. Instead of simply providing meal plans or food tracking, it uses a psychology-based approach to weight loss by helping you recognize behaviors and triggers that lead to unhealthy eating routines. Once you’ve pinpointed those, you’ll then be able to learn how to substitute them with healthier habits that help your cause for weight loss and fitness goals. Noom also serves to educate users about the importance of diet, nutrition, and physical activity for achieving optimal body weight goals. The lessons use scientifically proven techniques such as cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness-based stress reduction that are often applied in psychology, fitness, and health. Furthermore, Noom has over 1,000 interactive lessons in its library to help users learn more behavioral tools and skills.

Although Noom is mainly a weight loss app, it’s also one of the best nutrition apps out there. The food logging portal is a robust database that keeps over one million food items that are preloaded with their respective nutritional data. That’s not all. You can also scan the barcodes of over 150,000 food items and log them into your diet tracker as per your need. There are hundreds of easy-to-cook recipes and a water-tracking feature to ensure you are getting enough water in your body. There is a premium version of the app that offers one-on-one coaching, allowing you to manage your personalized goals.

• Talkspace

Talkspace is considered one of the top health apps for iPhone, designed to make therapy convenient and affordable for everyone. Upon signing up for the app, you are instantly connected with a licensed therapist who practices within your vicinity. Each and every therapist provided by Talkspace is fully trained and equipped to handle all kinds of mental health problems, which include depression, anxiety, stress, substance abuse, relationship issues, PTSD, and eating disorders. Communication with your designated therapist is possible via text, phone call, or even over video.

One of the advantages of Talkspace for therapy is that it is backed by numerous insurance plans, which allows users to get substantial reimbursement for subscription fees. All therapy sessions and communications between the therapist and the user happen over a secure network through the app’s banking-grade encryption, compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

• Sleep Cycle

Good sleep is an integral part of a healthy lifestyle. A highly functional sleep app can help you manage your sleep better. It’s hard to beat the Sleep Cycle app when it comes to sophisticated features, encrypted data, and an all-around user-friendly approach. All you have to do is put your phone to bed with you before you sleep and leave the rest to the app. Its sleep tracker feature observes your sleep cycles, patterns, restlessness, and time spent in different sleep phases.

This is achieved with the aid of your phone’s accelerometer, which tracks your movements and uses your device’s microphone as a sleep recorder to identify and catch sounds like snoring or sleep talking. The app’s groundbreaking alarm clock function is programmed to wake you up when you are in your lightest sleep phase so that you do not feel tired when waking up. You can even set up a customizable wake-up window or a snooze function that can be initiated through motion. 

The app has built-in premium features to encourage better sleep, such as a story library that has a collection of sleep stories, sleep sounds, guided meditations, and mindfulness tips and exercises. You can also acquire a thorough investigation of how different factors, such as stress and diet, influence your sleeping patterns. Your recorded sleep data is fully synched with Apple Health, thereby exchanging sleep analysis. Sleep Cycle is also compatible with Wear OS, allowing you to wake up with a peaceful vibration on your wrist without having to play an audible alarm that might awaken others around you.

Choose the right health app development company

The mobile app development industry is rapidly evolving. It is high time to leverage the possibilities it offers by getting a healthcare application developed. Celect Studios can help you do just that. As a prominent healthcare app development company, we ensure your healthcare app offers a seamless user experience and makes your job much easier. Our healthcare app developers are well-versed in every aspect of mobile app development and can develop all kinds of health apps for your business, no matter if it’s a small startup or an established medical institute.