Recent research has shown that physicians may be the key driving force behind this technology.
It may feel as though mhealth technology is getting off to a pretty good start on its own, but when it comes to the recommendations – or even discussions – of mobile and wearable tech by doctors, a recent study has shown that only 15 percent of physicians are actually talking about it as a tool to help to improve overall or specific wellness.
This could be holding back the adoption of mobile health technologies by patients who await doctor recommendations.
The study was conducted by MedPanel, a market research firm. While it determined that the vast majority of doctors are not discussing mhealth tech with their patients, it also determined that physicians at accountable care organizations (ACO) have a likelihood that is two times higher of discussing mobile health apps and wearables when compared to those who are not a part of an ACO.
This mhealth data helps to provide even better insight on top of previous research conducted on the subject.
For example, Research Now recently conducted a separate survey that involved the participation of 500 medical professionals. In it, 86 percent of the health care providers stated that they would be able to obtain a more complete understanding of the medical condition of a patient if they were assisted by mobile health apps.
Another 76 percent said that they felt that mobile apps could help patients in managing chronic conditions. Furthermore, among those surveyed in this study, 46 percent said that they believed that mobile applications would make it easier for a patient to make the transition from hospital care to home-based care.
In this new survey by MedPanel, there were 415 physicians who were surveyed in the United States. They indicated that patients who were not yet using mhealth apps or wearable technology could actually benefit from those tools. That said, MedPanel’s report on their findings said that it is actually up to the vendors, not necessarily the doctors and physicians, to place a greater focus on adopting wearable tech and mobile health apps.
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