Mobile Solutions, From Start to Finish

Physicians are being referred to as “digital omnivores” as they continue to embrace smartphones, tablets and laptops.  A survey from Epocrates has found that mHealth and proactive physician engagement with multiple screens is continuing to grow. 

Ninety percent of the 1,063 healthcare professionals that contributed to the 2013 Mobile Trends Report say that they are using a smartphone daily and almost as many are using tablets on a regular basis. 

“Today’s digital omnivores express a preference for mobile screens across all professional tasks – an important behavioral shift that has potential to dramatically shape the way developers, content providers and marketers engage with clinicians as the three-screen workflow becomes the norm,” according to the report in EHR Intelligence.

As this shift to technology continues, health care providers are learning to overcome technological challenges, specifically when it comes to EHRs and the recording of clinical notes.  More than half of those surveyed are already using computers, smartphone and tablets in conjunction with each other.  That number is expected to reach 82% by 2014. 

These devices are being used by physicians to read professional journal articles and to investigate resources in conjunction with checking email and completing continuing education credits.  Nurse practitioners and physicians assistants rely on mobile devices for daily use at higher rates than physicians.

Approximately 75 percent of providers still prefer to access EHR records and compose clinical notes on a full-sized computer. Those using tablets as their primary point of EHR interaction access patient records, add information and prescribe medications.  Only one in three believe their EHR software is properly optimized for use on a mobile device. 

With the continued input from those who use these technologies most – doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants – it will be interesting to see how products are redeveloped to provide the best support as the mHealth world continues to grow. 

Enterprising mapping outfit MapBox collaborated with data viz whiz Eric Fisher to develop maps that show the Apple and Android divide via neighborhood.  Metadata was taken from three billion tweets – every geotagged message since September of 2011. Social media data specialist at Gnip funneled the tweets, which were then stripped of all of their actual data. 

Three interactive maps were created from the data: one showing where tourists gather in cities, one showing tweets by language and one showing the types of mobile devices used to tweet. 

Fisher, along with MapBox engineer Tom MacWright, eliminated duplicates and mapped out 280 million tweets worldwide.  Green dots represent tweets from Android devices and red ones for iPhones.  Two shades of purple indicate BlackBerry users and other devices. 

After creating the maps, it became apparent that technological lines closely mirrored economic ones.  Apple’s iPhones trend in affluent neighborhoods while Android is spread through lower incomes.  BlackBerry users tend to be in financial centers.  

Fisher explains that this is a trial and error process, as the overlay of the maps can give a distorted view.  The biggest surprise for this data-driven mapmaker is the dominance of BlackBerrys in Indonesia.  Fisher also shared that Twitter is the best platform for this project, as reaches a bigger slice of the population. 

Are you surprised by the findings in your area?