Health Apps Every Primary Care Provider Should Know About
Like it or not, technology has made its way into health care. But rather than bemoan the persistent “digital creep,” learn to harness its benefits to improve your patient care. Here’s how to start: with smartphone apps that can help to monitor and manage common conditions.
2 BUILD YOUR PERSONAL APP LIBRARY
Another strategy—touched upon in the “Manage” section earlier—is to create a personal library of highly regarded, well-vetted health apps to address common patient care matters. These could be recommended to a broad audience and will form the cornerstone of your digital compendium.
To get you started, Table 1 outlines a handful of health apps every primary care clinician should know about. These apps are supported by clinical research, endorsed or ranked by health care/industry expert organizations, and come recommended by clinical colleagues, students, or myself. The presented health apps are easily accessible via the App Store or Google Play and offer free versions, so you can assess and recommend them to your patients at no cost.
I hope you find these apps helpful with your future patient care efforts.
The author would like to acknowledge The Pace-Lenox Hill Hospital PA Program Class of 2019 for their research, evaluation, and feedback on a variety of digital health apps, and Jean Covino, DHSc, MPA , PA-C , for her encouragement to write and teach about my passion for health innovation.
