Today, mobile health consumers are one of the top health benefit platforms. Their mission was to simplify healthcare and empower individuals to make informed health decisions. It is one of many reasons why forward-thinking corporations choose to partner. Here's how you can use mHealth to improve your health.
mHealth as a tool to promote chronic disease management
The number of people using mobile devices to manage chronic diseases is on the rise. Mobile health apps provide real-time information and insights that can help health care providers make informed decisions about patients' health. These applications are increasingly available and are designed to improve patient awareness, track health parameters, and promote self-management. Some examples of such apps are apps for diet and physical activity monitoring, smoking cessation apps and behavioral health apps.
A systematic review of mHealth interventions found that they can be positive for chronic diseases. The review involved four RCTs to evaluate the effectiveness in mHealth interventions for patients living with diabetes, asthma, chronic pain. Despite mixed results in the review, the authors stated that mHealth apps have the potential to improve the patient/provider relationship, increase patient education, provide better feedback and track patient progress.
Utilizing the PRISMA guidelines, a systematic review was conducted of RCTs in which mHealth interventions were included in adult care. PICOS (participants. Comparisons. Outcomes. Study design) was used to formulate our research question. In the PICOS approach, we mapped the variables we wanted to investigate and then developed our research question.
There are many things to take into consideration when evaluating mHealth interventions as part of chronic disease management. Consider, for example, the type of mHealth app used and the training method used. For instance, mHealth applications that use pre-set feedback can be useful for patients with chronic pain and for those with asthma. The duration of the follow ups should be considered.
mHealth can be used as an alternative to doctor visits in person
Telemedicine, or mHealth, is an emerging model of health care delivery. It uses the power of the internet and mobile devices to provide remote patient care, while reducing costs and increasing accessibility. Currently, nearly eighty percent of U.S. adults own a smartphone, and a similar percentage of adults globally do. This emerging technology could prove to a valuable addition in the health care system, especially for underserved communities.
While mHealth may be more convenient than visiting in-person, there are still some drawbacks. One, telemedicine encounters last less than in-person visits. Telemedicine encounters may last for less than one minute. The study doesn't give any details on why encounters take less than one minute. The study also fails to consider the effect of mHealth and hospitalization rates.
Telemedicine also poses malpractice risks. Telemedicine poses many malpractice risks. For example, doctors are unable assess the severity or condition of a patient's case if they cannot see them face to face. Doctors cannot determine if a condition has been cured by relying on only a video or an image.
If in-person healthcare is unavailable in your area, telemedicine may be an alternative. Telemedicine and mHealth are available to rural residents without the benefit of doctors.