Medical apps on smartphones and tablet computers are increasingly finding good use in hospitals in the city. Specialists across different fields are employing apps to make their work easier and patient-friendly. Millions of apps, from games to fitness to finance, are available on different operating systems used by smartphones and tablets. Of these, medical apps are helping professionals raise their level of efficiency by letting them make decisions remotely in emergencies, educating patients and having a vast medical reference at their fingertips.
According to Mr Ashok Varma, GM, Yashoda Hospital, almost all doctors possess tablets and smartphones these days and hence are increasingly making use of their potential. “Our doctors have been using apps on devices for the last one year and they are very useful. There are apps for radiologists, for analysing MRI and CT scans and several other purposes,” he says.
Dr Manas Panigrahi, neurologist at KIMS, says the potential of tablet apps is realised in emergencies. “We use tablets for MRI and CT scans. In emergencies, if we are not physically present with the patient, we receive the scans on the tablets and advise the management on the diagnosis. So, by the time we are at the hospital, the treatment would have already started,” he explains. A radiology app for the iPad allows specialists to view MRI and CT scans while on the go. Several apps on tablet and smartphones have a repository of medical information which can be used by doctors as a reference. There are others that can be used to educate patients too.