Surveyed Doctors Want Patients To Track Health Using Mobile Devices

Nearly 90% of surveyed physicians would like their patients to use mobile  devices to monitor or track certain health indicators at home, according to a report from Float Mobile Learning, a mobile  technology consulting firm, FierceMobileHealthcare reports (Jackson, FierceMobileHealthcare, 3/19).

The report is part of Float Mobile Learning’s comprehensive study of mobile usage in the health care  industry.

Key Findings

The report found that:

• 88% of surveyed physicians would like their patients to use mobile devices  to monitor heath indicators such as weight, blood sugar and vital signs (Float Mobile Learning release, 3/13); and
• 40% of surveyed physicians said they believe that mobile health applications  can reduce the number of office visits that patients need.

Additional Findings

The survey also found that:

• 80% of surveyed physicians said they use smartphones and medical  applications;
• 56% of surveyed physicians said they use mobile devices to help them make  faster clinical decisions; and
• 40% of surveyed physicians said mobile devices help them reduce the amount  of time they spend on administrative work.

According to the survey, physicians are 250% more likely than other consumers  to own a tablet computer (Murphy, Mashable, 3/12).

Implications

Gary Woodill — a senior analyst at Float Mobile Learning — said, “The  looming demographic bulge of aging baby boomers and the rising costs of hospital  care are driving a movement to providing medical care in a person’s own home,  whenever possible.”

He added, “Mobile health and wellness applications can help relieve the  burden of accelerating health care costs due to this demographic shift” (Float  Mobile Learning release, 3/13).

Source: iHealthBeat

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