Trust Apple to lead on the technology front and for others to follow. iOS app developers are a busy lot 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.

Apple watch-centric iOS apps

The Apple watch incorporates quite a few sensors to monitor health condition of users. Innovative apps are available and more are on the way. Smart iOS developers leverage the features of the watch 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 ties to the smartphone and you could even have remote alerts that will help healthcare providers rush to the aid of the patient. Diabetics, those with BP issues, stroke patients and others can be monitored with the app that makes use of fall detection feature.

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 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. In addition, a medical ID can be created and linked with patient records that can be accessed by a doctor. Speed matters in treating heart ailments and these apps help patients as well as 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 conscious state which is important to assess especially after a brain injury.

These apps may be combined 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 patient access to data such as atrial fibrillation, BISAP and CPIS pulmonary infection. In order 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 areas such as therapy to reduce pain and improve sleep. One area where these can become part of healthcare technology is to let amputees envision their present and future state. Another way these technologies are being put to use is in helping 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 their way around hospitals.

IoT and machine learning

There is still more in store for the healthcare industry and for 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, identification of graver issues such as cancer at an early stage and provide convergence for healthcare services. Now throw in Internet of Medical Things 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 on the forefront, especially in the US healthcare system. Telemedicine based apps will do away with the long wait times for patients and also help distribute loads across doctors in hospitals. Patient who find it inconvenient to travel can keep in 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 like humans do and now, we can look forward to medical chatbots that will be able to interact with patients and identify issues. The transaction may be accessed by a doctor and further action taken. It is no secret that patients have a lot of 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, an AI based radio therapy 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 the can expect fast responses
• Better diagnostics at 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 service component; vital speed that results in saving of lives and technology that 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.