By Melissa Wirkus Hagstrom, contributor Oct 05, 2020
The primary care setting has been impacted by COVID-19 in countless
ways, and technology companies are developing new solutions to help providers
and patients battle the pandemic right from their smartphones.
Medical apps for primary care and other healthcare settings have
been popular for years, with apps like WebMD, Doctor on Demand, Healthgrades and others becoming
well known. Now both healthcare providers and patients have a variety of apps
that can assist during COVID.
Earlier this year, Apple and Google announced that they are
collaborating to develop coronavirus contact tracing technology for both
android and iOS devices. Google Play, Google’s app store, curated a COVID-19
specialty section named “Coronavirus: Stay informed” that features apps that
aim to help end users stay prepared.
In addition to these resources, here are some of the most helpful apps for primary
care practices during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.
Innovative apps for primary
care practices
Telemedicine apps
Telehealth
is transforming the way primary care and family physicians practice, and has
enabled some practices to keep their doors open—both physically and virtually—during
the coronavirus pandemic.
VSee is a telehealth app that
allows providers to conduct virtual appointments with just a few clicks. Back
in March, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) loosened the
regulations for telemedicine, allowing clinicians to provide telehealth services
for beneficiaries residing across the entire country while also adding
additional enhancements to its payments and coverage plans.
Teladoc is a leader in the
telemedicine app space, allowing patients to connect to a board-certified
doctor 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
The
American Association of Family Practitioners (AAFP) has gathered a variety of COVID-19 telehealth tools and resources in one easy to
access page. It also features questions that primary care physicians can use to
ask vendors when deciding on a telemedicine provider.
Coronavirus tracing and tracking apps
Staying
informed on the coronavirus pandemic is essential for primary care practices,
and there are a variety of solutions in the marketplace to meet these needs.
Many states have released tracking apps to help curb the spread of COVID-19,
which can be a boon for providers. California, Utah and Nevada are among the
states that have tracking and tracing apps available; check your app store to
see if your state has released one.
Care19 and COVID Control are two apps leading the way in
tracing efforts. The latter app was developed as part of a Johns Hopkins
University study where users input personal data with a goal of tracking the
spread of the coronavirus.
On a
different level of medical apps, the COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for Systems
Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) is the online
data center that is most-often cited by academics and scientists. It provides a
trove of data and information on the coronavirus pandemic including global and regional
info, numbers of deaths, positivity rates and much more.
Health, fitness and mindfulness apps
During
this unprecedented time, it's more important than ever for clinicians and patients
to take good care of their mental and physical health. Thankfully, the app
market is brimming with applications that will help you do everything from
sleep better to eat healthier.
MyFitnessPal is a top rated app that lets
you track what you eat and how active you are. It can be a helpful tool to
maintain a healthy weight—which is even more important now, as researchers have
found that high body mass and obesity increase a person’s chance of suffering severe
complications if they contract COVID-19.
Endel is a unique app that can be
used for meditation or sleeping, by allowing users to create their own mix of sounds
to help unwind or get into that meditation mindset.
Related:
The 5 Best Internal Medicine Apps
10 Essential Apps for Nurse
Practitioners
Will Telemedicine Be the New Normal?
STAFF CARE places physicians and advanced
practitioners in locum tenens jobs in primary care, acute care and other
healthcare settings across the U.S.
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