Top 5 in Healthcare Mobile App trends to Watch

The mobile application is a growing field of digital transformation in healthcare. These are 5 mHealth trends to watch for those working with this type of product.

The global digital health intelligence is predicted to exceed $234.5 billion by 2023 (Frost and Sullivan). For the healthcare software development sector, this is a positive signal that benefits all of us. Mobile app development refers to a lucrative segment in the digital healthcare market, which will build its empire due to the convenience and advancement it provides.

Governments are leveraging mobile apps to respond to the pandemic since this virus knock out the public health sector in several countries. In which, they had developed apps for educating and delivering information to the masses, which spread the messages of social distancing and direct communication prevention. Here are 5 of the most notable trends that can define the field this year:

Patient-Generated Health Data (PGHD)

In the 2020 social distancing context, healthcare providers are forced to work with remote data, which is generated from both inside and outside the hospital/clinic environment. PGHD is the up-and-coming digital health trend in town. Boosted by the domination of mobile app devices and the rising health awareness of the population, PGHD is a gold mine in terms of the volume of data. The PGHD wave contributes significantly to the development of Big Data in medical research.

PGHD has various possibilities to enhance the whole industry when integrated into healthcare software systems:

• Supports healthcare providers with a source with continuous data input so that they can take action on time. They can also enjoy the interdisciplinary functions to provide a more accurate prescription and diagnosis.
• Healthcare companies can benefit from PGHD with a golden opportunity for innovation and operational optimization. This digital healthcare trend provides insights that have never been available before and valuable information about the specific market.
• Government and regulation makers can now possess tools that help elevate the transparency of the healthcare industry, which has eliminated unnecessary complications.

Health monitoring — the future of health apps

Although both PGHD and health monitoring belong to the patient engagement software category, there is a slight difference between them. The PGHD relies on the user to actively provide inputs, while health monitoring is more like a receptor that receives vital information and sends it back to the system without users’ direct input.

The technology is fueled by the rise of the wearables devices industry. Health monitoring devices now have a variety of functions with heart diseases and diabetes tracking dominate the whole market. Disabilities and other types of patients can be monitored by their doctors 24/24 without putting too much effort into keeping an eye on their condition. It empowers not only patients with chronic diseases but also their doctors. The treatment experience becomes less exhausting.

Extra application of geolocation

The active use of geolocation in protecting public welfare has been witnessed in Japan recently. A contract-tracing app has been launching in Japan to instantly detect infected people that their location histories are available for indexing. This mobile health trend has partially contributed to the decreasing number of daily confirmed cases (from 432 cases on 23rd April down to 66 cases on 20th June, according to covid19japan.com).

Other than direct tracking, geolocation also helps the population in multiple ways:

• Hospitals, clinics, pharmacies nearby suggestions;
• Immediate activate location sharing when a person makes an emergency call;
• Provide related healthcare news around the user’s exact location;
• Find nursing services available near the user with all types of homecare/Homebase GPS tracking;
• Send warnings for the user of accidents, natural disasters, and other things that may negatively affect the user’s health before he/she goes out of the house.

Telemedicine

Along with telediagnosis, telemedicine has stepped into the healthcare software development industry boldly. Back to a record in 2018, telemedicine segment volume was estimated to be 25 billion USD, which is projected to grow to 113 billion USD in the next five years

The healthcare technology trend has transformed the appointment making and visits experiences. Doctors can now discuss with their patients online more conveniently and consistently without being worried that the patient will not show up on the right day. Patients, on the other hand, can save time and resources with the non-contact visits to the hospitals and clinics. Developers are on their way to make it more and more complete to enhance the user’s experiences.

Future of wearable technology in healthcare

The wearable industry is going hand-in-hand with the healthcare mobile apps industry. Every wearable needs a mHealth trend that provides an interface for users to interact. Every application would be extremely profitable when it partners up with a wearable. As digital health technologies get more sophisticated, users can expect more problems to be solved: breathing and related movement receptors, three-axis accelerometers, integrated behavioral health software for home-based patients, etc.

Overall, mobile healthcare app development is a promising industry with a massive potential to grow exponentially in the next ten years. In the short term, its evolution would help us to conquer novel viruses like COVID-19 or any other pandemic that threatens our lives. For developers, it is time for you to up your game. For investors, profitability is the word to say about this industry. And for users, your needs are in the spotlight.