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
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    headphones can create health problems
    The Harmful Health Effects of Using Headphones
    September 24, 2021
    Headache causes
    4 Causes Of Headache You Probably Didn’t Know About
    December 28, 2021
    follow these steps to recover from your injury
    What Steps Should You Take to Recover More Quickly from an Injury?
    April 12, 2022
    Latest News
    7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
    August 20, 2025
    Hospital Pest Control and the Fight Against Superbugs
    August 20, 2025
    Hygiene Beyond The Clinic: Attention To Overlooked Non-Clinical Spaces
    August 13, 2025
    5 Steps to a Promising Career as a Healthcare Administrator
    August 3, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Hacking HIPAA
    June 25, 2013
    VIVUS, Inc., Presses the Case for Obesity Drug Qnexa, Market Success
    October 18, 2011
    incentives and healthcare
    The Real Price of Incentives: Loss of Trust
    July 26, 2013
    Latest News
    How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
    August 22, 2025
    How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
    August 22, 2025
    How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
    August 22, 2025
    How IT and Marketing Teams Can Collaborate to Protect Patient Trust
    July 17, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Smart Medicine, SmartPhones
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 > Smart Medicine, SmartPhones
eHealthMobile Health

Smart Medicine, SmartPhones

Gary Levin MD
Gary Levin MD
Share
5 Min Read
SHARE


 


 

More Read

Telemedicine Image Collaboration Enhances Patient Safety
Risk of EHRs: Malpractice Claims
How to Engage Patients and Gain Online Visibility
Here’s What You Don’t Know about Telemedicine
A 30,000 foot View of Digital Healthcare, With Both Feet Planted on the Ground

        

The evolution of computer processing power has led to a reduction in size of the most commonly used device used for computing and social media tasks.  The tower shrunk to a desktop or all in one format, the desktop was replaced by laptops and tablets. Tablet PCs, notepads, netbooks are morphing into mobile devices of assorted sizes and utilities, merging with video capabilities.

These changes are key to ‘meaningful usability’ in a medical or hospital environment.

Health care and medicine have lagged behind in the use of social media

How the iPhone set the bar for other smartphones in healthcare –

iPhones could be considered the technology that truly kick started the mobile revolution in home care. Small, easy to use and powerful, the iPhone was the first smartphone to really capture the attention of physicians, and to develop tools and resources for healthcare.
Recent data shows nearly 65 percent of hospitals are supporting iPhone use on their networks, and another 83 percent are supporting its larger cousin, the iPad. 

Dozens of developers create add-ons, plug-ins, special lenses, and apps that can turn the iPhone into any number of use-specific healthcare tools, including:

  • Image-viewers: Recent studieshave shown that the iPhone can be an acceptable viewer for MRI, X-ray and other images, although with the caveat that it shouldn’t be used for primary diagnosis.  
  • Diagnostic tools: Developers have createdstrips, touchscreen devices and other tools to diagnose everything from malaria to e. coli infection via the iPhone. 
  • Remote monitors: iPhones can read and transmit data from remote monitoring devices. For example, the iPhone has been employed as a scanner to take glucose readings from strips of nanosensors under skin.
  • Microscopes: A cheap, $50 lens turns the iPhone into a field microscope. It’s not the same as powerful lab microscopes, but can enlarge images 350 times, which can be more than enough to see tissue abnormalities and even some diseases.
  • Electrocardiograms:  A pocket sized device attached to the back side of a smartphone can transmit a remote rhythm strip to a physician or hospital from a 911 first responder.
  • iPhones also have hefty enough processing capacity to access patient records, Being

    Another key component in the iPhone revolution in healthcare clearly is consumers. Saldana estimates that of the 7,000 users who access his hospital’s MyCare patient portal, 80 to 90 percent do so with iPhones. It was one of the main reasons his team moved early on to enable the hospital’s Epic electronic medical record system for iPhones, and later iPads.

    And iPhones certainly are upping the ante in terms of patients’ expectations, Feldman adds. “Particularly now that patients have access themselves to their data via portals, so often my patients are as up to date as I am on their labs. It would be embarrassing if they have faster access than I did.”

    Physicians will be dragged into social media by their own patients and consumers who will annoyed by not having that functionality with their physician or medical group. Physicians will come to realize the efficiencies of not having to contact the patient about ‘normals’, and the lab data normality can be programmed into the software.

    Security Issues:

    The one lagging item on the iPhone agenda continues to be security. iPhone users are famous for finding workarounds,

    While not HIPAA compliant smartphone experts say they had good luck with “just put[ting] on the lock screen, which encrypts the data on the device and … set[ting] up remote wipe/locate, which are all free features of the phone.” These issues still abound how to encrypt data over the cell and wifi networks.  The military does this already with Blackberry devices, which are standard military issue for email and communication in DOD medical facilities.

    The capability is there and someone is going to come along and develop this capacity.

    And last but not least is social media.  Email is slow compared to using Twitter which can actually function much like a pager with a message displaying and a sound alert much like the now obsolete digital pager. It also facilitates a quick reply if desired.
     

    How the iPhone impacted the handset industry

    How the iPhone set the bar for other smartphones in healthcare –

     

    And during slow times, there is always:

     


     

Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

engineer fitting prosthetic arm
How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
Health care
August 20, 2025
a woman explaining the document
How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
Public Health
August 20, 2025
physiotherapist at work
How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
Health care
August 20, 2025
Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs
7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
Health News
August 20, 2025

You Might also Like

Image
BusinessSocial Media

Beyond the Buzz: A Guide to Social Media Monitoring for Healthcare

August 16, 2014

The FDA Patient Network Website: Pretty Darn Patient-Centered

May 15, 2013
ListenLogic Patient Journey
eHealthMedical InnovationsSocial MediaTechnology

How Advanced Social Intelligence is Already Transforming Healthcare

March 5, 2013

DC Health Data and Innovation Week 2012

June 11, 2012
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?