By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: How Doctors Can Use Mobile eHealth Apps To Monitor Their Patients
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > eHealth > Mobile Health > How Doctors Can Use Mobile eHealth Apps To Monitor Their Patients
eHealthMobile HealthTechnology

How Doctors Can Use Mobile eHealth Apps To Monitor Their Patients

Rehan Ijaz
Rehan Ijaz
Share
6 Min Read
SHARE

  The interactive health platform is not really a new concept anymore, and patients have already been monitoring health from home for years. Any device that allows monitoring falls into this category. This could include a traditional blood pressure machine, or the modern heart rate monitoring offered by Apple watches, for example. Until this point, apps have largely been generated so patients can ask questions about their own symptoms. Perhaps a patient would use an app to store information that can be discussed during their next visit to the doctor, or simply to hold private health logs. With over 250,000 electronic health apps globally available to consumers, American Mobile listed seven of the best. They include the following:

Contents
  • E-health apps and geofencing notifications
  • The importance of compliance
  • Final Thoughts
  • WebMD Pain Coach. An app created by popular online medical site WebMD, this helps people to manage their chronic pain. Triggers and treatments can be assessed by the patient so they can discover what works best for them to combat pain.
  • Healthy Heart 2. Developed by Ringful Health, this app allows patients with heart issues to log their own blood pressure, cholesterol and blood glucose levels, along with several other features. The data can be converted into handy graphs to share with a physician.
  • Glucose Buddy. This app, developed by Sky Health, is one of the biggest diabetes management apps around. Users are encouraged to log their glucose numbers and insulin dosages and have the information handy on their account for reference.

E-health apps and geofencing notifications

Push reminders are a feature of almost any app, and it is interesting to look at how they work for e-health apps. In the cases described above, the notification would be sent automatically by the app in order to remind a patient to take a certain action, or log some information. For example, Glucose Buddy would send a notification should a user fail to record glucose numbers for a longer period than normal. These health apps so far are heavily reliant on patient input, which means that doctors are fairly limited on how they can actively help their patients from afar. However, there are other solutions that will let the professionals get more involved in the process. Companies like Qolty have developed a geofencing technology named ?Corridor?, that allows doctors to configure a patient?s app to send notifications whenever they enter, or do not enter, a location of interest. Geofencing technology brings a new level of assistance to doctors trying to help patients:

  • Locations such as pharmacies can be programmed into the app by a doctor, and notifications can be sent to the patient if they visit, or fail to visit.
  • It also helps with locations that are best avoided – if a patient needs to stop drinking alcohol before an operation, it can send a notification of encouragement should it detect that the patient is in a bar.
  • Geofencing allows research to be more robust. If a doctor is monitoring a patient for research purposes, a patient could make a visit to another medical center and receive help without telling their original doctor. This would usually make accurate research impossible, but a geofencing app would alert the doctor that the patient has visited another facility.

New geofencing apps like this one can give more control to doctors, and aid them in helping their patient from a distance.

The importance of compliance

It is understandable that some patients may be wary of having their location tracked, but location-based notifications are designed to improve compliance. A patient left to their own devices could more easily choose to ignore a doctor?s orders, but if they are using an app with which their activity is visible to their doctor, they will be more likely to comply. A report by Mayo Clinic found that approximately 50% of patients do not take their medication as prescribed. This is something that really needs to be improved, and e-health monitoring could be one way forward. A number of surveys have indicated that patients are, on the whole, prepared to take these steps to receive more efficient healthcare:

More Read

Four Health Innovation Drivers
Four Health Innovation Drivers
ASH 2015: A Cancer Community of Hope
Avoiding Meaningful Use Penalties
Indian Healthcare Industry in the 21st Century
Minimum Dose, Maximum Speed
  • 66% of patients are ready to adopt e-health and technology into their treatment plan.
  • 54% would like to use their smartphone to communicate with healthcare providers.
  • Healthcare apps are effective at increasing patient engagement 75% of the time.

Naturally, care must be taken when developing software that tracks a patient?s location and sends push notifications. Patients are likely to have questions and concerns, so as a doctor it is important to be as transparent and available as possible. Also, ensuring that the information provided on the app is digestible for non-medical professionals, is crucial.

Final Thoughts

The goal is to have the patient view the app as something designed to help them, rather than monitor them and keep them to a strict schedule against their will. eHealth is continually transforming the field, and as it continues to evolve, it will continue to provide better options for medical professionals to help their patients.

TAGGED:digital healthehealthhealth technologymHealthmobile health
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

Nurse Scheduling Software
Evaluating 7 Best Nurse Scheduling Software
Nursing Technology
October 28, 2025
contamination
Batch Failures And The Hidden Costs Of Contamination
Health Infographics
October 21, 2025
Medication Management For Seniors
Simplifying Medication Management For Seniors
Infographics Senior Care
October 21, 2025
Guide To Pursuing a Career in Nursing as a Foreigner in the USA
Collaboration Is the Prescription for Better Patient Care
Health
October 20, 2025

You Might also Like

eHealthSocial MediaTechnology

HelpAround Opens Up the Diabetes Patient Discussion

August 18, 2014
Medical InnovationsTechnology

The Right Tools: Advances In Reconstructive Surgery Devices

November 7, 2017
Technology

How Do Food Delivery Workers Stay Safe?

September 11, 2019

Posner: Use Research Dollars to Make Life Better, But Not Longer

May 23, 2011
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?