While some medical professionals are increasingly citing concern about the use of at-home diagnostic devices, smartphones are now heading toward the forefront of patients’ healthcare treatment plans. It’s true; smartphones can be used to track and monitor progress, while simultaneously helping to improve and refine various aspects of care. 

Naturally, doctors and other medical professionals will never be fully replaced by smartphones, as it takes a trained professional and human mind to interpret such information and give a diagnosis to each patient–as well as to explain the data in a comprehensible and digestible way. It also takes teams of medics to even assemble, test and approve the critical elements within any such software or apps, ensuring the results are targeted, accurate and useful. 

For example, one would expect a team of cardiologists to be involved in some way or other in developing and pre-testing at-home heart monitoring equipment, testing the devices’ efficacy and impacting on the live usage of such apps when they are newly launched.

This all means that physicians’ resistance to the use of smartphones is potentially only counter-productive, since they will always benefit from its introduction–as should the patients. It’s also true that no matter what self-diagnosis a patient may reach, he cannot do a lot with it–and certainly little that could be detrimental–until he sees the relevant professional; now, however, patients can turn up to an appointment with some incisive measure of a problem and its fluctuations, instead of trying to bluster their way through describing their symptoms. 

And after all, the smartphone is often referred to as an extension of the human body and it’s already proved to be an invaluable asset for countless tasks in every other industry. So, why not in healthcare?

Anyway, the point is, smartphone technology is transforming the way in which healthcare is delivered and in this article, we take a closer look at some key benefits.

5 Ways Smartphones Have Become Valuable Medical Devices

1. Helping to Reduce the Cost of Healthcare

First of all, smartphones can significantly reduce the cost of healthcare. For example, many medical manufacturing companies are creating small devices that can be synced with apps on any smartphone. Instead of using highly expensive, scarce machines, these small devices can do the same job for just a fraction of the cost and can bring the technology to more departments in a hospital.

Ultrasound is the perfect example. Instead of using an expensive and bulky imaging machine, several medical imaging companies have recently released handheld ultrasound devices that alleviate the high costs associated with conventional methods. A small portable device fits snugly in the palm and brings reliable imaging to any smartphone with the corresponding app (or via USB connector), and can be applied to settings such as acute care, internal medicine and musculoskeletal applications. This brings great advantages in terms of ease of use and widespread availability.  

Meanwhile, the automation side of these devices enables medical facilities to reduce costs and even quicken up treatment in the process

2. Improving Accuracy and Paying Attention to Progress

When it comes to tracking progress, smartphones enable a patient to monitor their own conditions without the assistance of a medical professional.

Whether the app is tasked with monitoring blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen levels or cholesterol, smartphones are now a great source of assistance and peace of mind for the patient. Recent studies have also shown how the use of apps and smartphones can contribute to the health and well being of any person. The user feels in control and can see, for example, how small lifestyle changes can positively or negatively affect their outcomes. 

On the other hand, these medical devices can also produce far more data over time than conventional methods. When it comes to important decisions and the accuracy of this data in particular, the benefit of smartphones in healthcare cannot be understated.

The benefit for healthcare is self-evident; since people can begin to take responsibility for monitoring their own state of health, they are not clogging up the doctor’s surgery with minor worries as much. With their physician’s help, they can spot the precise times when they need medical intervention. 

3. Connecting Patients and Medical Pros With Critical Data

Let’s be honest, no doctor can be expected to spend their entire time at their respective outpatient clinic. At the same time, such medical professionals are often on the move from one laboratory or operating room to the next. 

For this reason, smartphones can help these individuals stay connected and monitor the performance of a patient from any location. And we can already see this technology in use. For example, apps are available that enable patients with a pacemaker to access critical data in real time, and this information can be accessed by their doctor without having to see the patient there and then. 

In short, this means that smartphones can remove the need for expensive remote monitoring hardware and bring an added sense of convenience to a treatment plan; now, both patient and doctor have a minute-by-minute access to real, shared data.

4. Improved Quality and Safety of Healthcare

Smartphones and digital apps not only help streamline the process but also make healthcare safer. Instead of patients having to remember information and consult a folder of complicated documents, they can quickly access apps that take care of many intricacies associated with a treatment plan. 

Aside from helping patients, this ease of access also improves the workflow for professionals, while alleviating some of the workload that would transpire without the use of these devices.

In fact, smartphone market analysis can even determine the demographics of smartphone users and other factors that could help medical companies better understand key trends in the industry. As a result, these companies can further improve the effectiveness of their related apps and medical devices, ensuring only the most appropriate software makes its way into the smartphones of each user type, for maximum efficacy. 

Remote access to patient data also provides considerable safety advantages in the containment of infectious diseases; now, many smartphone-based apps for self-monitoring of health issues can be used at home, thus preventing users from needing to set foot in a doctor’s practice unless they need medication–yet extremely reliable data can still be obtained and passed on as appropriate. From a containment point of view, this is surely ideal–safeguarding low-immunity patients from cross-infection, and preventing possible disease breakouts in waiting rooms. 

5. Favoring Convenience Over Convention

More than 70% of adults in America own a smartphone. Also, a recent survey showed that 62% of these adults have used a smartphone to look up medical information. It’s no wonder, then, that smartphones are being used to transform how healthcare is being delivered! But how can we know if patients actually want to use smartphones when it comes to healthcare treatment?

Well, the statistics don’t lie. In fact, a Korean hospital recently integrated an electronic medical record system that patients could access with a smartphone. As part of this initiative, it was discovered that this system was accessed two hundred times more than the previous PDA-based system. Needless to say, this is just one example, but early indications show that most people favor their smartphone over conventional methods.

Final Thoughts

Smartphones are increasingly common in terms of healthcare treatment plans. 

Whether at home or in the professional’s office, these technological advancements can streamline processes to produce better–more regular, consistent and reliable–results.

At the same time, the convenience and familiarity of digital devices makes smartphones an obvious preference for everyone involved. So, while some medical professionals cite concerns over the use of digital devices at home, with the right guidance, any smartphone can be a most valuable tool for both patient and clinician.