Even though doctors have been transitioning to electronic medical records software and eprescribing tools recently, many experts say that patients are the ones who are more quickly adapting to the use of new technology for their medical care. For example, the American Medical Association (AMA) released a new application available from Apple's iTunes that will allow patients to keep track of their medications and immunizations with the click of a button.
Over the past few years, upwards of 12,000 other apps have been created for consumers use – the AMA's My Medications app was notable as it was the the first from this organization that was approved for consumers. As such, when the 2011 mHealth Summit brought together professionals on December 5 for a week of talks – discussions touched on mobile medical apps among other hot-button issues.
"When we talk about mobile health and think about the possibilities of the future, we are talking about taking our biggest technology breakthrough of our time and using it to address our greatest national challenge," Kathleen Sebelius, secretary for the Department of Health and Human Services, said in her keynote address at the summit.
Sebelius also took this time to call out what she sees as a stubbornness on the part of the greater medical community to quickly adapt to emerging technologies. As a result, doctors and small medical facilities that haven't chosen a EMR software for their practice may want to secure this important tool from an experience provider that stocks top names like Allscripts MyWay.
By gaining a functional tool from a reputable source, doctors can ensure that their provider and software distributor will both be around for years to come, despite the fast-paced changes the industry is experiencing.
