Why Remote Medical Care Software Is A Must During Coronavirus Crisis

Worldwide quarantine due to the COVID-19, also known as coronavirus and SARS-CoV-2, requires people to stay home and work remotely or get sick leaves. Hospitals and clinics ask people not to visit doctors if they don’t need emergency care. However, the lack of emergency cases doesn’t mean that some people don’t need medical attention. 

There is a problem to be solved. And digital technologies make it possible to visit a doctor online without face-to-face contact. Remote medical care (RMC) is already available, and it is gaining momentum. Technological trends in healthcare may be a good idea for a startup, especially in the era of a pandemic. How can both patients and physicians benefit from RMC? That is what our article is about. 

The COVID-19: What It Can Teach Us Today

A tense situation in many regions of the world makes us wonder how we can deal with it. Overworked and exhausted medical staff throw their bodies at fighting against COVID-19. Many people remain without proper assistance from doctors since almost all physicians are involved in the battle with the outbreak.

According to Statista, the number of SARS-CoV-2 cases worldwide reached 782,000, as of March 31, 2020. However, we shouldn’t forget about thousands of other diseases people may get. For example, older people or people with chronic diseases must undergo regular check-ups and visit doctors. To resolve this issue, both doctors and patients need to use digital technologies that simplify their lives drastically. 

As there are quarantine measures in the majority of hospitals today, people with chronic diseases are recommended to refrain from visiting medical establishments. So it is the right time to think about the integration of healthcare tech that lets people be in safe conditions and get doctors’ assistance at the same time. 

Examples Of Remote Healthcare Solutions

It turns out that many types of RMC are widely used today — starting from handheld medical devices to a website and mobile apps. We will consider all existing options and healthcare IT products. 

• Glucose meters. Patients with diabetes need to test blood sugar levels daily. It allows them to always be updated and make insulin injections when necessary. So there is no need to visit a doctor every day.

• Blood pressure monitors. Electronic monitors make it possible to test blood pressure/heart rate in automated mode. And if there are severe abnormalities, patients may call for an emergency.

   

• Wristbands for older people. Digital wristbands and some other wearables are suitable for patients with dementia. They send signals to the app that is installed on a doctor’s or relatives’ smartphones, and it shows the patient’s condition. If the patient falls, the related people get an alert and may take appropriate actions immediately.

• Fitness wristbands. Such wristbands are targeted more at preventive measures rather than treatment; however, athletes and people that monitor their well-being always know the number of  calories burnt, steps taken, their heart rate, etc. The information is sent to the app, and it can be shared with a family doctor.

• Telemedicine. Video calls in various messengers have already become an integral part of our lives. And you can make video calls with doctors as well. Telehealth technology is already very trendy. Patients contact their doctors online, get consultations, and doctors may perform a preliminary visual inspection.

  This article may be interesting for you: Telemedicine App Development

    

• EHR software. Electronic health records, or EHR apps, are the most advanced option we recommend you focus on today. This app may contain both telemedicine feature and such features as image sharing, appointment scheduling, educational materials sharing, e-prescriptions, etc. That is, the EHR app makes it possible to get full-fledged assistance from physicians while staying home. 

Also, Cadabra Studio is currently working on healthcare software development (doctor on demand app development) that allows the patient to upload the diagnosis in the form of MRIs or other medical data, and an AI-powered platform analyzes it and provides you with treatment plan recommendations. The platform is even able to detect whether a patient needs surgery or conservative treatment is enough.

Advantages Of Remote Patient Monitoring Software 

As you can see, there are many examples and types of remote health solutions, and they make it possible for people to stay home, be isolated, and get in touch with doctors. Our next step is to single out all the pros of RMC both for patients and doctors. 

RMC Advantages For Patients

• Reduced time. Patients don’t need to spend time traveling to the hospital, they stay home, and they may focus more on personal things.

   

• Personal profile. Medical software usually contains a personal profile where all essential information is stored. Patients always have access to it to check something.

• Timely detection. A permanent monitoring of health conditions makes it possible for doctors and patients to detect any deviations and take appropriate measures.

• Assisted diagnosis. Doctors may diagnose more accurately and provide patients with proper prescriptions.

• E-prescriptions. Apart from the lists of medications patients need to take, EHR apps make it possible to send reminders to patients, so they can keep up with the drug regimen and take it on time.

• Cost-efficiency. Technologies in healthcare help patients save their money, and it concerns both travel expenses and visits to the doctor. Technologies automate many processes and help patients improve their health conditions.

• Comfortable conditions. East or west — home is best, you know. So normally people always feel more comfortable when they have an opportunity to avoid going to hospital. 

RMC Advantages For Physicians

• Continuous patient monitoring. Real-time monitoring of all vital health factors of patients helps doctors stay updated and provide patients with necessary recommendations during the treatment process.

   

• Balanced workload. As doctors work overtime today, and they are fatigued, remote monitoring balances out their workload, and they may focus on seriously ill patients.

• Paperwork reduction. Digital solutions help doctors get rid of paperwork since all data can be stored on the cloud, and electronic forms can be filled out quickly. Moreover, many processes are automated, so doctors don’t need to do everything manually.

Barriers Of Remote Medical Care Adoption

Meanwhile, we cannot ignore the barriers that are on the way of the global digital transformation of health services. So you need to consider them to know all of the cons before you proceed to medical software development. 

Lack of accessibility. Unfortunately, not every region and not every hospital may afford the usage of mobile apps and portable devices for remote patient monitoring. Not to mention the lack of good broadband connectivity, which is hard to implement in some rural hospitals. Also, older people have some difficulties with using smartphones, and it is necessary to teach them how to contact their doctor quickly and share problems.

Skepticism. Old-fashioned methods and conservatism will never vanish. Both some doctors and patients think that healthcare IT trends won’t help them treat diseases. Also, they are concerned about malfunctions any device may contain because it may lead to errors and inaccurate diagnoses. Besides, all patients’ data is stored on the cloud, and some of them worry about the safety of the data. 

However, Technology Wins 

ResMed, a medical software provider, conducted a study of 3,000 people to find out how people tend to use digital technologies for health monitoring. And the result revealed that remote digital health technology is widespread — 56% of those surveyed confirmed that they monitored their health condition with at least one tool or mobile app. 

It proves that the trust of technologies is gradually increasing, and people understand that digitalization is inevitable. Besides, it is created for the simplification of their lives, not vice versa. Remote patient monitoring software development becomes another way to occupy this niche on the market.

You can also read another article about Best medical website designs.

Training Of Doctors Is Crucial As Well

Doctors, the same as their patients, may feel inconvenience concerning new tools and software they will have to use for patient health monitoring. And the integration of new technologies must be implemented on a governmental level.

Besides, governments should create training programs that will include guides on remote medical care and how to use remote healthcare software for communication with patients. Physicians must be digitally empowered to handle mobile devices quickly and work with the patient’s data correctly. 

Ways To Make The Idea Of RMC Real

Returning to our question concerning the viability of medical app development as a startup idea, you can see that there are many examples of software for remote health monitoring on the market. And today, considering the conditions of isolation due to SARS-CoV-2, the development of medical apps is an exceptionally profitable option. Today it is one of the most significant trends in the healthcare IT area. 

But before you start building an app for RMC, you should take into account three vital things — security, proper testing, and intuitive design. The medical app should be highly secure, as data breach leads to the loss of personal information and even improper functionality of the software since hackers may use trojans and other malware to reduce the software performance.

As for testing, it is required to test each feature to make sure that software is bug-free, and all types of testing were applied. Bugs in medical software may even cost lives. 

And UX design — it must be as straightforward and transparent as possible. Your software won’t be used by geeks only. So users shouldn’t have any difficulties with your app or website navigation. The Cadabra Studio team knows what essential aspects medical software should contain and how software design for medical devices should look. So we can build easy-to-use medical software for you that will remove barriers between patients and doctors. 

And finally, communication with a software development company is also performed online, so any virus shall not pass. It is one of the ways how you can get profit and follow all quarantine measures in good faith. You can read more in our tips on how to lead your business through the COVID-19 crisis. 

Just drop us a line to find out all the details for your future projects like cost, terms, and features. 

P.S. We are also quarantined — but remote work makes us stronger!