Open the app store and type “pregnancy” into the search bar. Result? Hundreds of applications covering everything from fitness tips to belly measuring guides. With the glut of pregnancy apps on the market, and no regulation from the FDA to help sort the beneficial from neutral or possibly detrimental, clinical practices are hard put to find the best pregnancy app for their patients. Some just forgo using digital tools altogether.
But digital health is here to stay, and practices that want to stay relevant have an imperative to keep up with the growing presence of technology in healthcare, particularly as their patients come to expect it more and more.
So what should you be looking for? A pregnancy app that recognizes that the patient/provider relationship is at the heart of better pregnancies. Here are a few of the value points that clinicians should be looking for in an app:
Automation
Digital health tools that automate elements of care, such as digitizing educational materials, can reduce the need for in-office visits while capturing the same global fee. It helps your practice allocate care to the most vulnerable, while improving your bottom line. Look for the tools that allow you to provide more touch points to your patients, allowing for continuous care without the time-consuming elements.
Targeted Data
Many apps are useless because of the amount and type of information they communicate — over-extended providers do not have the time to sift through mountains of data to find what might be useful. Clinically valuable apps deliver actionable data, while it’s happening. Receiving an alert when a patient truly needs an intervention, instead of being inundated with constant and mostly useless data, allows clinicians to efficiently manage patients in real-time.
Clinical validation
No clinician wants to take a risk on a digital health tool without a high-degree of confidence that it will work — and better than systems currently in place. That’s why some digital health companies are working closely with clinicians, paying rigorous attention to evidence and the expectations and needs of doctors. These are the products to look out for — the ones that can be trusted to deliver the efficiencies that they promise.
Babyscripts is the first pregnancy app to be developed with and for providers. You can read more about our clinical partnerships and our value proposition here.