Most docs would recommend an mHealth app to patients

Eighty-nine percent of doctors were likely to recommend a mobile health app to patients in a January 2013 survey by ambulatory clinical solutions provider eClinicalWorks. The Westborough, Mass.-based company conducted the online survey of 2,291 healthcare professionals in the United States, 649 of whom were physicians. Ninety-three percent of doctors interviewed for the survey found value in connecting an mHealth app to electronic health records and 93 percent of physician respondents also saw mHealth apps improving a patient's health outcome. According to survey results, nearly six in 10 doctors (58 percent) said a top benefit for having an mHealth app feed data back into a patient's EHR was the ability to provide patients with automatic appointment alerts and reminders. In addition, six in 10 physicians also said that at least half of their patients would be interested in appointment reminders via a mobile app. Almost half of doctors in the survey cited a patient's access to medical records as a top benefit, as well as the ease of scheduling appointments. And, nearly two thirds of physician respondents said medication adherence is a top health issue in which an mHealth app linked to EHR could make an immediate impact, while more than half said diabetes (54 percent) and preventative care (52 percent) were other areas of potential benefit. Announcement