Introduction
Technology has contributed immensely to medical professionals’ way of caring for patients. However, with new digital health apps and wearables, doctors have powerful new levers for improving diagnosis, smooth treatment, and equipping patients to oversee their wellness. These advances that are narrowing this gap between tradition and solution are ushering in new ways to practice medicine and to provide more universal, efficient, and individualized care.
Difference between health and wellness apps:
Let us first understand the difference between health and wellness apps. Though they have similarities, there are significant differences.
The FDA defines a health app as mobile software that can diagnose, follow up, or cure illness. The goal of the FDA is to control and supervise all such apps in the future.
A wellness app, on the other hand, is a type of mobile software that improves or monitors the user’s health. It can deal with various aspects, such as physical, mental, emotional, intellectual, social, and environmental wellness. Commonly used wellness apps are those that count calories and help in workouts.
Sometimes, health and wellness apps overlap in tasks. For example, a calorie counter for general wellness could benefit from medical goals like controlling obesity. While this type of crossover can be beneficial when used with professional assistance. The key takeaway here is that these tools should be complementary to, not a replacement for, routine checkups and doctor dashboards and visits. Counting solely on an app to do health assessments may leave important medical issues undiagnosed, so it’s a case of using an app alongside a balanced approach.
Below is the list of highly recommended apps for patients:
Health Apps for Patients
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WebMD
The WebMD app is a well-known brand for health information. It offers help to users in understanding symptoms, conditions, drugs and treatments, first aid basics, and local health listings. This tool helps identify prescription and OTC medicines by shape, color, and imprint.
Price: Free
Compatibility: Android, iPhone
2. I Triage
I Triage by Healthcare can help you locate the closest hospital or urgent care center. Also, this application gives an approximate waiting period.
Price: Free
Compatibility: Android, iPhone
3. Pill Reminder
Pill Reminder by Drugs.com helps patients maintain a thorough inventory of their meds. It offers the convenience of sending reminders to your mobile phone when it’s time to take scripts. You can insert personal notes or find quick access to crucial details regarding your medicine, like its effects, dosage, and how safely one can use it while pregnant.
Price: Free
Compatibility: iPhone, coming soon to Android
4. Asthma MD
A feature that offers a diary for users to log their asthma activity, medications, and what causes asthma. This information can be shared with the user’s doctor or nurse for inclusion in medical records. For researchers studying the effect of outside elements on asthma attacks, Asthma MD provides them with the data they need greatly.
Price: Free
Compatibility: iPhone
5. Gazelle
Gazelle allows people to schedule tests at a lab or see their results on their mobile phones. Looking through lab reports, they will find a short description of what is considered normal or abnormal for each value tested. This makes it easier for patients to comprehend the results. The app can track medication, share health data, and keep emergency medical information in one place.
Price: Free
Compatibility: Android, Blackberry, iPhone
Wellness Apps for Patients
Calorie Counters
Many apps are available in the market to help measure how many calories you consume daily. They all demand commitment, as you need to input every bite or sip that enters your body. The well-liked options are:
1.Fitness Aides
A complete fitness diary with over 1,000 exercises, customized workouts, and animations.
Cost: $0.99
Compatibility: Android and iPhone.
2. Sleep as Android
The app works like an alarm clock and includes a sleep cycle tracker for waking you up softly. When you sleep, put your phone beneath the pillow; this app will follow your sleeping phases and select the perfect time to awaken you.
Price: Free with in-app purchase
Compatibility: Android
3. Fig
This app is not just about encouraging healthy eating and exercise, but it also monitors your wellness. This includes tracking whether you get enough sleep, and it notifies you to wake up 15 minutes early for meditation.
Price: Free
Compatibility: Android, iPhone
Conclusion
Health and wellness apps are revolutionizing the delivery and management of health care through their integration into patient care. Built for patients and doctors alike, these apps enable patients to own their health and help doctors provide more thorough, effective, and efficient diagnosis and treatment. There are health-focused apps such as WebMD, AsthmaMD, Fig, Sleep as Android, and many other applications designed to enable various aspects of health in the physical and mental body.
Do you know what you need when setting up a new medical practice?