How to increase your Practice Revenue with Mobile Patient Applications?

Encourage Patients to Utilize the App

It is probably one of the most challenging parts of the strategy. mHealth providers need to figure out which features will motivate patients to use the app regularly. We can define a group of characteristics that can be considered depending on the healthcare organization. In addition to adding value, these options should motivate and entertain a patient.

• Allow patients to track their activities using connected devices and keep a food diary.
• Regular app entries (e.g., 5-7 days) are rewarded with extra points that can be exchanged for discounts, iTunes music download points, gift cards, and other items.
• Allow your exceptional and joyous moments to be shared on social media (fight any bad habits, follow a healthy diet, keep up with exercise, and more).

It may seem like some of these ideas are unusual and even excessive for the patient's situation. Our recommendation is not to put them all into the application at once. Trial and error will be necessary to find the most potent functions to use for a specific patient population.

Include and Hold Patients

It is important to build trust with patients and encourage them to seek care from the provider through the app. There are several alternatives:

• Dietary recommendations (recipes, macro, and micronutrient wheels, and more).
• Information on relevant patient support groups, question and answer chat, and emergency buttons for psychological support.
• A physical activity guide with exercises or 10-minute meditations to do every day.

By permitting patients to speak with their physicians straightforwardly and securely outside the office, caregivers show that they are ready to tune in and help 24 hours per day. This is the way hearts are won.

Promote the Services of Suppliers

It is important for patients to enjoy using the app and to use it regularly for the app to be valuable. Although many patients find most of the benefits in basic functions, such as scheduling and lab results, there is a place to promote subtle services.

The way to a fruitful advancement is to remain personal with features, for example:

• The individualized therapeutic education of the patient is based on their condition and/or goals. It can provide suggestions for procedures and tests to help patients feel better or make sure they are in control of their health.
• Based on the patient's status and behavior within the application, discounts and personalized promotions are offered.
• Message center. Among the information they provide is information about updated lab results, medical images, and treatment; reminders of upcoming appointments; and recommendations regarding follow-up appointments, exams, and tests.

In addition to scheduling appointments through a mHealth app in an acute case, patients also need general health guidance. Patients feel safer and more cared for when they receive useful, specific advice, while direct (and sometimes irrelevant) advertising irritates.

Make the System Work

Medical applications for patients are designed to create a single point of concentrated interaction with patients. The interaction should work both ways, benefitting both caregivers and patients. To achieve this, providers must consider the three keys to successful patient application. It should:

• Having fun and being addictive in a positive way will appeal to patients, so they'll want more of it.
• Be involved, be reliable, and demonstrate care through supporting functions.
• Promote and inform suppliers so that they can achieve their business objectives efficiently and ethically.