Healthcare IOS Application Trends in 2020

Trust Apple to take the lead on the technology front and look for others to follow. iOS app developers are busy pushing out iOS apps by the dozen to cater to varied requirements. Healthcare is receiving significant attention as the famed Apple watch gains in popularity. This year is a promising time for iOS healthcare apps, and we can expect even more in 2021.

smartwatch, gadget, technology Photo by Free-Photos on Pixabay

Apple watch-centric iOS apps

The Apple watch incorporates quite a few sensors to monitor the health condition of users. Innovative apps are available, and more are on the way. Smart iOS developers leverage the watch’s features and tie it with Apple devices to provide a different perspective on healthcare. It helps users, and it helps doctors too.

Fall detection

Fall detection is one of the features of the watch with its included accelerometer and gyroscope. Patients may wear the watch, and the app connects to the smartphone, and you could even have remote alerts that will help healthcare providers rush to the aid of the patient. People with diabetes, those with BP issues, stroke patients, and others can be monitored with the app that makes use of fall detection features.

Blur chart check up curve Photo by Pixabay on Pexels

ECG app

ECG app is available to work with Apple watch series 4. This innovative iOS app goes beyond simple monitoring of heartbeat and heart rate. It can track skipped heartbeats and irregular rhythms and, more importantly, capture ECG data. This data can be exported as a PDF file for a doctor to review. Its data is similar to 12 lead ECG data.

These two are just representative samples of what the Apple Watch 4 is capable of. Also, a medical ID can be created and linked with patient records that a doctor can access. Speed matters in treating heart ailments, and these apps help patients and health care service providers react fast.

Brain

If heart health is important, so is brain health, and one app that is likely to make a significant impact is the Coma Scale app. The app evaluates the conscious state, which is important to assess, especially after a brain injury.

Healthcare practices can combine these apps with other tools available on iPhones, such as Siri that lets patient record their current status and transmit it for a doctor to assess and provide appropriate emergency guidance.

General health care and ICU

Doctors working in emergency units must keep track of various parameters besides knowing about drug dosage and nutrition. One such app that is likely to become the defacto reference tool is the ICU app. It can help calculate drug dosage, antibiotics therapy, body weight, calcium correction, and CVC optimal positioning. It gives the patient access to data such as atrial fibrillation, BISAP, and CPIS pulmonary infection. To deliver a better patient experience, doctors have access to guidelines on various topics such as delirium protocol and hemodynamic optimization.

AR and VR

AR and VR promise much but have not delivered so much. Still, there is hope. AR and VR can deliver a better patient experience while being useful in therapy to reduce pain and improve sleep. These can become part of healthcare technology to let amputees envision their present and future state. Another way these technologies are being used is to help those with post-traumatic stress disorder relax and understand their condition. More to the point, AR/VR can help visualize data for referral management. The technology can display statistics on a patient’s body scan with pointers to problematic areas. iOS developers are working on advanced diagnostics and risk assessment in which AR helps to detect conditions by visualizing information from sensors. Doctors can check circulatory systems and organs. Medical students will find VR apps quite helpful in understanding surgical procedures.  Surgeons can rehearse procedures and carry out such procedures speedily with the help of virtual reality-based apps. Then there are more mundane apps based on AR/VR that help remote diagnosis and help patients navigate hospitals.

man in black crew neck t-shirt wearing black sunglasses holding black smartphone Photo by Minh Pham on Unsplash

IoT and machine learning

There is still more in store for the healthcare industry and patients. CoreML framework integrates into the iOS system to make it possible to bring machine learning to apps. Add the cloud integration facet, and a whole new world opens up in healthcare IT technologies that will boost speedy remote diagnosis, identify graver issues such as cancer at an early stage, and provide convergence for healthcare services. Now add the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT), and one can visualize how easy it becomes for doctors (and patients) to keep track of skin temperature, blood pressure, and sugar levels. There are challenges such as cross-compatibility of IoT sensors, but then iOS developers thrive on challenges.

Telemedicine

While the above situation involving ML and cloud is likely to gain traction in the coming years, for the present, apps that assist with telemedicine are at the forefront, especially in the US healthcare system. Telemedicine-based apps will do away with the long wait times for patients and help distribute loads across doctors in hospitals. A patient who finds it inconvenient to travel can keep regular touch with their physicians through telemedicine apps.

Intelligent medical chatbots

Chatbots are common on websites. The primitive ones have a programmed set of responses. AI-infused chatbots can converse nearly as humans do, and now, we can look forward to medical chatbots that will be able to interact with patients and identify issues. A doctor and further action taken may access the transactionn. It is no secret that patients have many questions,, but doctors, hard-pressed for time, can be brusque and discouraging. The medical chatbot app saves the day for the patient who can interact, and such interaction could provide surprising insights for the physician.

Benefits of IoS healthcare app development

  • As can be seen, the iOS environment is fertile and high-tech, allowing iOS developers to come up with ordinary healthcare apps like health monitoring apps or more sophisticated ones like Microsoft’s Project Inner Eye, AI-based radiotherapy, and 3D contouring tool. Specific apps provide tangible benefits:
  • Cost-saving for patients and healthcare services
  • Reduction in time doctors spend on each patient.
  • Self-monitoring capability
  • Advance warnings of potential risk areas to warrant early intervention
  • Peace of mind for patients, knowing they can expect fast responses.
  • Better diagnostics at a lower price for healthcare service providers with consequent benefits for patients

Conclusion

Most apps are either commercially oriented, serve to entertain, or fulfill some function. However, healthcare is an entirely different area. There is a service component; the vital speed that results in saving lives and technology helps doctors deliver even better services. Healthcare service providers improve their image and engender loyalty that translates to revenues if they assiduously go in for health-related iOS app development.

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Author Bio: Hiten Dudhatra is the Team Lead - Digital Marketing at Ecosmob Technologies Pvt. Ltd. He likes to share this opinions IT & Telecommunication industries via guest post. His main interest to write the content for iOS Application Development, Artificial Intelligence, Machine learning development, VoIP technology. For more info, go to https://www.ecosmob.com

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