Global challenges including older patients, personnel scarcities, and the rising cost of healthcare are increasingly having a negative impact on the quality of care. The term “clinical mobility” is used to describe the use of mobile devices such as tablets, smartphones, and mobile computers and printers in hospitals to improve the delivery of healthcare services. Clinical mobility also encompasses patient monitoring via biometric devices, and monitoring equipment, including information about patients gathered through wearable technology. Here’s how mobile technology is improving healthcare:
Embracing the Digital
Clinical mobility has many advantages, from delivering lab results more quickly to fostering communication between colleagues. Research suggests that healthcare providers and patients alike are coming to embrace the digital world. A 2022 study by Zebra Technologies found that 77 percent of recently hospitalized patients approved of their providers using mobile devices. In addition, 95 percent of patients polled were willing to share health metrics collected by wearables with providers. This signifies a major shift in attitude towards healthcare delivery.
Smart, mobile-powered solutions pave the way for more efficient record maintenance, upgraded patient care, enhanced interpersonal communication, improved data security, better healthcare training, and more rapid innovation. The healthcare industry is currently undergoing a technology-driven transformation, with recent advancements changing how people access information. As a result, drastically improving healthcare services for patients.
The Benefits of Mobile
In the United States, more than 46 million people live in rural communities, almost 15 percent of the country’s population. For some, getting to the nearest healthcare provider is challenging. In remote regions, emergency medical services professionals increasingly rely on mobile technology. They can input data and send it to the receiving hospital prior to the patient’s arrival. This allows patients to be tended to immediately while minimizing paperwork tasks.
Electronic health records (EHR) facilitate speedy access to lab results, saving time and money, enabling healthcare providers to utilize resources optimally. Using EHR minimizes the risk of duplicate tests. EHR systems are also highly effective in terms of enabling healthcare professionals to access up-to-date information about patients.
Mobile health has multiple benefits. Labs and practitioners can work together more efficiently, streamline practice management and workflow processes, enhance efficiency, improve patient-physician communication, and facilitate better-informed medical and pharmacological decisions. Mobile health reduces time spent on reports, promotes greater transparency regarding patient insurance claims, results in more accurate clinical diagnostics, facilitates targeted and more efficient treatments, supports real-time remote monitoring of post-operation recovery, and reduces costs through data-driven operational insights and automation.
Mobile health gives providers access to the latest medical research, drug information, and online learning practices wherever they are in the world, 24 hours a day. In 2019, $1.23 billion was invested in mobile health applications globally, making it the third most funded category of digital health.
Democratizing Healthcare
Once regarded as a luxury of the rich, today, mobile phones are an everyday communication necessity in countries all over the world. There are more than 7 million mobile users around the world, 3.9 billion of whom use their devices to access the Internet. Mobile phones are capable of transmitting clinical, investigational, and demographic data to healthcare providers, improving their ability to offer patients timely and appropriate advice.
Healthcare systems investigate health issues; engage in early detection and disease prevention; and provide treatment. Communication is the integral thread running through all these services, linking patients and service providers. Implementation of mobile technology in healthcare systems is increasing. It is contributing to time management and cost efficiencies at every level, including individual appointments with doctors and hospital visits. It is making processes more convenient for patients and medical practitioners.
The Future of Clinical Mobility
For all the benefits presented by mobile healthcare technology, there are also some challenges, chief among them, security. Adam Mahmud, Healthcare Alliance Manager for mHealthIntelligence, points out that security breaches are growing exponentially in the healthcare industry. Hospitals and clinics will need robust and secure mobile device management offerings to support mobility initiatives aimed at improving the patient experience by increasing caregiver efficiencies.
Patients want to be more connected with healthcare providers, and that starts with meaningful interactions. Clinics and healthcare facilities are investing in mobile computing carts, so nurses and physicians can access EHR directly from the patient’s bedside. Providers can spend more time with patients, improving interactions and quality of care.
Experts estimate that, by 2025, the global healthcare industry will have invested $64.7 billion in cloud services. That’s a significant amount of money, but if deployed correctly, this vast trove of information will help to lessen waste, increase efficiency and productivity, reduce costs, inspire new treatments and pharmaceutical options, and decrease patient mortality. The future of clinical mobility is fast if these issues can be resolved and this information is analyzed and used to improve the quality of patient care.