Key Challenges of Healthcare and Fitness Application Development

Health and fitness go hand in hand. Whether people go to the gym or go for a crash diet, the ultimate goal is to stay healthy. Today, in this app-driven world, we have an app for every activity ranging from learning to banking and shopping to leisure. 

Another emerging category in the mobile world is fitness application development. This category is gaining popularity because of the many benefits of health and fitness apps. 

Before looking at the benefits of mobile healthcare solutions and challenges in their development, let’s have some interesting facts. As per the Statista forecast, there will be 86.3 million users of health and fitness apps in the United States alone. 

In this pandemic age, people give importance to health and fitness like never before across the world. We have witnessed the rapid adoption of telehealth services and health or fitness apps at this time. As a result, healthcare app development and fitness application development are creating a buzz. 

Original Source: Key Challenges of Healthcare and Fitness Application Development

All You Need to Know about HIPAA Compliant App Development

As technology advances, the risks associated with cyberattacks and data breaches have increased significantly. Be it the finance or healthcare sector, it is of utmost importance that our confidential data should remain in the right hands. 

If we compare both sectors, the medical data of a person costs 12 times more than the data of a person’s credit card. This is a major reason why healthcare organizations should go for HIPAA-compliant healthcare apps. 

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was introduced back in 1996 and was last updated in the year 2013. This act mainly consists of four rules-

HIPAA ensures secure and standard handling as well as storage of the patient’s medical data. One of the major objectives of this act is to ensure coverage and maintenance of insurance. It also includes provisions related to taxation in medical expenses. When healthcare institutions opt for developing mHealth solutions or healthcare apps, they should emphasize HIPAA Compliant. 

Original Source: All You Need to Know about HIPAA Compliant App Development

Medical IoT : Dawn of a New Era in Healthcare Sector

The heavily regulated and highly stretched healthcare sector is all set to transform with the integration of the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT). As per the research, globally, over 3.7 million medical devices are connected to monitor different parts of the patient’s body. It is fair to mention that IoT in the healthcare industry is aimed at keeping people safe and healthy without increasing the cost of healthcare services in the future. 

Integration of IoT in the healthcare industry enables patients to take medical advice online while reducing the additional burden on the healthcare system. A recent report has predicted that the market size of IoMT will reach $72 billion by 2021. These days, the IoMT concept has also integrated into the healthcare app development domain to leverage its benefits. 

Before going to the benefits of IoMT in the thriving healthcare sector, let’s have a glimpse at areas where IoT can work wonders and assist service providers. 

Hospitals and Clinics

The number of patients is way more than that of doctors that make it difficult for doctors to manage the diagnosis and medication of all the patients. There, IoT lends a helping hand and doctors can easily diagnose the disease properly for treating the patients more effectively. 

Original Source: Medical IoT : Dawn of a New Era in Healthcare Sector

Impact of Blockchain Technology on Mobile Healthcare

Healthcare management has to deal with data processing and data security. Evolving technology has made it possible for physicians to check the EHR (Electronic Health Record) and EMR (Electronic Medical Record) as and when necessary.

But, patients have no full ownership of their digitized medical records, and they are unable to control the way their information is updated online. Simply put, we are still missing on the transparency front in the customized healthcare mobility solution. 

Also, as the concepts of IoMT (Internet of Medical Things) and wearables are getting mainstreamed in the healthcare sector, concerns related to data security in the areas of personalized medicine and health data loom large. 

Patients and healthcare professionals need a secure and robust way to record and transmit data in real-time.  There, blockchain technology comes to our rescue. 

Scope of Blockchain in Healthcare Sector

Blockchain came into the limelight as a platform for recording cryptocurrency transactions back in 2008. However, it was just a distributed cloud-based ledger at that time. Today, blockchain evolves to make the entire data sharing system safe and transparent across various industry sectors. 

Original Source: Impact of Blockchain Technology on Mobile Healthcare

How IoT Benefits Healthcare App Development Sector

The healthcare industry witnesses multiple challenges in this pandemic age. Even in the post-COVID-19 era, the challenges of this highly regulated sector like the aging global population and the rise in the number of chronic diseases will remain far from over. While facing these challenges, the cost of healthcare services is also increasing rapidly that keeps them beyond the reach of many people. 

But, the situation is not all doom and gloom. An IoT app development company comes to our rescue with evolving technology that can make healthcare services more accessible and cost-effective. 

There is no exaggeration in mentioning that diagnosis takes a large chunk of hospital bills. Healthcare mobility solutions can transform the routine of medical checkups or diagnosis from hospital-centric to home-centric. 

Here, IoT comes into the picture with extensive applicability and a wider scope for diagnosis and treatment. Let’s go through the key benefits of IoT technology in the healthcare sector. All these benefits can be leveraged effectively with the help of advanced healthcare app development.

Key Benefits of IoT in the Healthcare Sector 

IoT is useful for the thriving healthcare sector in multiple ways. Let’s dig deep into its key benefits. 

Original Source: How IoT Benefits Healthcare App Development Sector

How Virtual Healthcare Technology Disrupts Medical and IT Industry

Before the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the healthcare sector has started implementing virtual technology, but it was not much prevalent. A bi-annual survey of US-based physicians has revealed that prior to the COVID-19 outbreak and at the beginning of the year 2020, only 19% of physicians had initiated some form of video visits. Simply put, the COVID-19 pandemic has acted as a catalyst in increasing investment in virtual health applications. 

It all started more than a decade ago. At that time, virtual health was regarded as a game-changer in the industry, but as advancing technology made virtual health possible for healthcare organizations across the world, its adoption remained rather slower than expected. Then during this pandemic age, the healthcare sector witnesses smaller declines in total visits in adult primary care and behavioral health segments.  It has made virtual health in limelight. 

A McKinsey survey conducted among leaders of healthcare service providers in the year 2019 has revealed that prior to the pandemic, virtual health adoption was highly concentrated in telemedicine with the limited investment in the full range of available virtual health technologies. Remote monitoring was considered a key area for investment in the future. Today, virtual health has risen as an imperative and vital part of the healthcare ecosystem. 

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Top Healthcare Technology Trends Expected to Boom During and After COVID-19

It all started in early December 2019 when the first case of coronavirus was reported. It was March 2020 when the pandemic hit all the countries hard and kept healthcare professionals on their toes. Though the world unitedly fights against this invisible yet invincible enemy, the disruption it has brought is painful for the healthcare industry. Many health organizations still face shortages of supply, staff, and support. 

However, thanks to the support of evolving technology, the healthcare sector has shown great resilience against the pandemic. Even the World Economic Forum has mentioned that “the industry’s response has vividly demonstrated its resilience and ability to bring innovations to market quickly.” But, here a question arises- can the healthcare sector afford to put this innovative approach and resilience on the back burner once COVID-19 comes under control? Well, no healthcare organization affords this for sure in the post-COVID-19 era. 

It is expected that the healthcare information technology (HCIT) market will reach USD 270.3 billion by 2021, which shows a CAGR of 23.6% in the given period. This growth is largely attributed to the rising prevalence of coronavirus and the government’s support.

Original Source: Top Healthcare Technology Trends Expected to Boom During and After COVID-19

Technology Trends That can Assist Healthcare Organizations to Optimize EHR

EHR integration is just a beginning to make your healthcare organization more receptive and patient-centric. The real part is EHR optimization because it includes a whole set of processes that require your attention after integrating the EHR into your existing system. Since 2008, the adoption of any EHRs has more than doubled or from 42% to 86%, and this percentage keeps on increasing over the period. 

However, with the increasing adoption of the EHR, the dissatisfaction with EHRs also continues to rise speedily. This dissatisfaction can lead to physician burnout that leads to patient safety-related issues. Many findings have pointed out that the EHR concept, with all its benefits for the healthcare industry, can also be a reason for losing productivity, settling for sub-par systems, and dampen the physician-patient relationship. 

The EHR technology also faces problems like slow connection speeds, insecurity of data, and unreliability. It further increases frustration among physicians. Therefore, it is imperative to build a process of refining the installed EHR software and enable the software for enhancing clinical productivity and efficiency. This is known as EHR optimization. Simply put, EHR optimization can facilitate physicians while reducing administrative burden and increasing EHR usability. 

Original Source: Technology Trends That can Assist Healthcare Organizations to Optimize EHR

Rise of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare App Development

Valiant efforts are made worldwide in the healthcare sector for improving health conditions and ensuring the well-being of patients. Here, healthcare mobile applications lend a helping hand and act as a bridge between patients and healthcare professionals. Customized healthcare or mHealth apps can ease the burden on healthcare organizations and enable patients to get high-quality diagnoses and treatment conveniently.

Statista has expected that the mobile health industry will cross $60 billion this year thanks to the rise of the popularity of healthcare apps. Another report suggests that around 80% of physicians use mobile apps for offering patient care.  Concepts like telemedicine and doctor-on-call can be implemented effectively with the help of customized healthcare apps. What’s more, as technology evolves, healthcare apps become more advanced through integrating advancements of technology. 

Talking about the healthcare sector, what if you could predict healthcare trends and improve your patient-related services accordingly? Here AI (Artificial Intelligence) comes into the picture. This revolutionary technology can analyze the data for behavioral understanding and targeting people accordingly across various industry verticals. With this, AI can bring substantial improvements in all aspects of healthcare services ranging from diagnostics to treatment. 

AI can effectively address tasks like administrative workflow, clinical documentation, patient outreach, medical device automation, and patient monitoring. What’s more, a few of the smart tasks like drug development and assisted living can also be accomplished by this technology. It is fair to mention that AI has begun a new era in the healthcare sector while bringing radical changes through customized healthcare apps. Here are some of the major AI-based applications for the thriving healthcare sector. 

Original Source: Rise of Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare App Development