Key benefits of mobile devices in healthcare
Mobile devices have opened up new ways of communicating and engaging with patients, improving diagnostic accuracy and optimising health outcomes. Let’s take a look at some key benefits of using devices such as smartphones and tablets in patient care.
Better patient care and management
According to the RACGP, “the pervasive nature of mobile technologies has had a revolutionary impact on the way people live their lives, changing the structure and delivery of a variety of services from food and consumer goods through to airlines and banking.”
The RACGP’s 2017 survey, ‘Views and attitudes towards technological innovation in general practice’, found 50% of GPs use mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets for patient-related work. GPs with 20 or more years’ experience are actually more likely to use mobile devices for clinical work than their younger counterparts. And GPs not using mobile devices reported a lack of understanding about their benefits in day-to-day practice.
According to the RACGP, GPs are using their mobile devices to:
- Take clinical photos, in particular, skin lesions
- Remotely connect and manage patient notes during nursing home visits
- Access medical apps, such as calculators, therapeutic guidelines and electronic medical records.
For instance, MedicalDirector’s cloud clinical and practice management software, Helix, allows you to manage all aspects of patient interactions on the go, in your practice, or wherever you are treating patients. Access records, bookings, consultations, payments and more from anywhere, at any time on laptop, desktop, tablet – and soon, via your mobile phone.
Better patient engagement
Patients want the flexibility of booking their appointment online anywhere, anytime, on any device. In fact, MedicalDirector’s recent patient engagement survey found 62% of patients saw an online booking system as extremely important for improving their clinical experience.
Booking appointments online can also alleviate any frustrations should your reception be busy and the patient can’t get through via telephone. SMS reminders and recalls can help reduce patient no-shows and improve schedule management for you and your staff.
According to MedicalDirector’s Chief Clinical Advisor and GP, Dr Charlotte Middleton, it’s all about personalising and helping the patient’s journey, where they can make their own appointments easily and get reminders before they even walk in the door.
“You can give your patients a clean, minimalist experience by having an easy self-check in kiosk, to reminders and recalls on the phone,” she explains. “We have an online booking system at our practice, and we regularly get compliments from patients who recognise its value in improving their experience, especially if the receptionist is very busy and the patient can’t get through via telephone. It removes any frustration before they even walk in the door, and saves time for everyone.”
How MedicalDirector can help
From SMS reminders, online bookings, self-check in kiosks, push notifications, email reminders and more, smarter use of online patient engagement tools can help boost scheduling efficiency, reduce patient no-shows and turn around a time-poor practice.
At MedicalDirector, our innovative clinical and practice management software integrates with a wide range of Partner Solutions, which offer a range of helpful reminder systems, online booking tools and recall features to help medical practices boost patient engagement and reduce no-shows.
These include:
Recalls and Reminders
- MessageNet: An SMS service designed to improve the productivity and mobility of your practice, allowing clinicians to send SMS notifications for recalls and reminders.
- MessageBird: A cloud communications platform with its own telecommunications carrier infrastructure, designed to simplify communication with patients via SMS.
Full suite of Patient Engagement Solutions
- AutoMed: Offers sophisticated online appointment bookings, caller ID and self-serve check-in kiosks with Medicare card readers and 100 languages to cater for changing demographics as well as auto billing.
- HotDoc: Provides a full suite of software solutions, including online bookings, reminders, recalls, check-in kiosks, patient survey tools and other products, which are customisable and empower practices to better connect with patients.
- MyHealth1st: Enables 24/7 real-time appointment bookings online, as well as automatic recalls and reminders.
For more information on how your MedicalDirector software can integrate with our Marketplace partners to help reduce patient no-shows in your practice visit:
