Everyone knows that family doctors prescribe drugs, but it may come as a surprise to many that doctors are now encouraging the use of smartphone apps to their patients. This is a testament to how far the smartphone app market has come in the last few years. More and more developers are now considering the fact that people are willing to try different healthcare apps; therefore, they are giving what people want – new and improved applications that turn smartphones into a family doctor.
Speaking of growth in the market of healthcare smartphone applications, it’s worth mentioning that it grew seven-fold in the last year – precisely, it touched the $718 million mark. These are remarkable figures, especially considering the fact that this particular app market is still in its “embryonic” state, but it has already started revolutionizing the ways people were using to keep fit.
By digging deeper into the details, you will realize that the reasons behind this overwhelming surge in mobile health growth are quite obvious. For instance, one big reason is the decline in smartphone prices. With prices coming down, more and more people are now in a position to own a smartphone. On the other hand, the increase in sales allowing developers to focus on developing new and nice apps, which is one of the reasons why you can now see hundreds of thousands of apps that help you manage your diet, fitness, and health in a great way.
It is mainly due to the effectiveness and accuracy of these apps that even doctors are now encouraging patients to take advantage of these apps. For instance, many doctors are now asking their patients to use a food allergy app. This app allows a person to scan bar codes on supermarket products. Through scanning, it will become possible to find the ingredients used in those products. Similarly, there are apps specifically designed to help diabetics. By using this app, you can manage your diabetes in a much better way. It works after you supply the data like blood glucose levels, insulin that you take, and the amount of carbohydrates you eat. Once done, you can track this data anytime you like and make certain changes to your diet considering your current medical condition. This app goes a long way in helping diabetics manage their condition effectively.
The easy availability of such apps is nothing less than a blessing for patients. It not only saves a lot of time, but it also saves money you have to spend every time you visit your general physician. The interesting thing is that these developers are still striving hard to revolutionize the healthcare market by offering apps that work as sophisticated tools for better diagnosis and treatment. They have already managed to produce apps that include a variety of functions, ranging from helping people maintain a healthy weight, monitoring their calorie intake, and enabling doctors to check radiology images on their mobile communications device.
Here, it is also quite important to point out that many simple healthcare apps are inspiring doctors and developers to take things to the next level. For instance, you can easily find an iPhone app that helps you to measure heart rate. This inspired other developers to present an app that was not limited to measuring the hearth rate but it was also able to find respiration rate, heart rhythm, and blood oxygen saturation using mobile phone’s camera. Now, the development of this particular app has inspired researchers to turn smartphones into high-tech medical monitors able to capture as well as transmit important physiological data. What it means is that the introduction of one healthcare app is opening doors for new and more innovatively designed app, so you are going to witness new stuff that would revolutionize healthcare delivery. Stay tuned!
Author Bio: Nancy Ahuja is a full time blogger and a big time supporter of green environment. She with her inspirational and innovative posts has influenced many readers. Her writings can be found on blogs like CasaHealth.co.uk and many others. Apart from this she loves to interact with different people and have fun around.
