Examining the Evolving Use of Apps and Mobile Health Devices in a Real-Time Clinical Setting: A Look at Health in a New Dimension
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Abstract
Background
The tremendous surge in mobile devices is permeating the healthcare industry and apps are flooding the market with capabilities to revolutionize how healthcare professionals and patients interact, educate, and communicate. As the mobile health landscape evolves, it is essential to understand the use and impact of apps, and the mobile devices on which they are offered, in real-time clinical settings.
Objective
This study was designed to understand two distinct elements of the mobile health movement as it relates to physicians and patients:
1) general use of apps and specific drivers of app selection and usage; and 2) use and impact of mobile technology in the clinical setting. Most importantly, it was designed to evaluate use and satisfaction over time, as participants became more knowledgeable about relevant apps, and increasingly savvy in their application to daily care.
Method
In October, 2010 over 30 residents and attendings at a major clinical care hospital were provided with iPads (Apple, Cupertino). Researchers examined a multitude of variables surrounding the use of iPads, and the impact on daily clinical care and patient education. They aimed to understand which apps physicians used and for which purposes including individual use, information sharing with healthcare professionals, and patient interactions.
Results
Baseline assessment of participants revealed widespread enthusiasm for using mobile health devices, but little understanding of their capabilities. This understanding quickly developed however, and became quite sophisticated as physicians independently transformed the iPad from a personal tool into one that is essential for professional work. Furthermore, despite having nine self-selected, preloaded websites available for use at all times, participants uniformly preferred apps (96%). Interestingly, participants reported very high satisfaction with apps, but as the study progressed, simultaneously expressed dissatisfaction with many elements of the apps themselves. Most specifically, physicians recognized incompatibility and irrelevance as patient care needs become more complex and desired that the apps become even better.
Conclusions
This study is one of the first initiated and largest in the country to examine physician use of apps and mobile devices in the clinical setting. While Internet capabilities continue to expand, the results of this study point to a clear preference for apps based on their ease of use, streamlined and interactive content, and superior graphics and navigation. Within weeks, physicians became connoisseurs of apps, integrating both the apps and mobile devices into daily care and continuously seeking apps with more relevant information for education and communication. Still, there is a gap between the current capabilities of apps and the complexity of patient care. As the mobile health field continues to form, it is essential that app developers and healthcare providers work together to ensure maximization of this technology for patient care. Phase II of this study examines how physicians use these apps and devices with patients, a critical component of the movement towards building robust and relevant apps.
The tremendous surge in mobile devices is permeating the healthcare industry and apps are flooding the market with capabilities to revolutionize how healthcare professionals and patients interact, educate, and communicate. As the mobile health landscape evolves, it is essential to understand the use and impact of apps, and the mobile devices on which they are offered, in real-time clinical settings.
Objective
This study was designed to understand two distinct elements of the mobile health movement as it relates to physicians and patients:
1) general use of apps and specific drivers of app selection and usage; and 2) use and impact of mobile technology in the clinical setting. Most importantly, it was designed to evaluate use and satisfaction over time, as participants became more knowledgeable about relevant apps, and increasingly savvy in their application to daily care.
Method
In October, 2010 over 30 residents and attendings at a major clinical care hospital were provided with iPads (Apple, Cupertino). Researchers examined a multitude of variables surrounding the use of iPads, and the impact on daily clinical care and patient education. They aimed to understand which apps physicians used and for which purposes including individual use, information sharing with healthcare professionals, and patient interactions.
Results
Baseline assessment of participants revealed widespread enthusiasm for using mobile health devices, but little understanding of their capabilities. This understanding quickly developed however, and became quite sophisticated as physicians independently transformed the iPad from a personal tool into one that is essential for professional work. Furthermore, despite having nine self-selected, preloaded websites available for use at all times, participants uniformly preferred apps (96%). Interestingly, participants reported very high satisfaction with apps, but as the study progressed, simultaneously expressed dissatisfaction with many elements of the apps themselves. Most specifically, physicians recognized incompatibility and irrelevance as patient care needs become more complex and desired that the apps become even better.
Conclusions
This study is one of the first initiated and largest in the country to examine physician use of apps and mobile devices in the clinical setting. While Internet capabilities continue to expand, the results of this study point to a clear preference for apps based on their ease of use, streamlined and interactive content, and superior graphics and navigation. Within weeks, physicians became connoisseurs of apps, integrating both the apps and mobile devices into daily care and continuously seeking apps with more relevant information for education and communication. Still, there is a gap between the current capabilities of apps and the complexity of patient care. As the mobile health field continues to form, it is essential that app developers and healthcare providers work together to ensure maximization of this technology for patient care. Phase II of this study examines how physicians use these apps and devices with patients, a critical component of the movement towards building robust and relevant apps.
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