by
Sean Ruck, Contributing Editor | May 09, 2017
From the May 2017 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
App: Twine
Produced by: Twine Health, Inc.
Price: Free
Current Version: 17.2.3
Last Update: March 28, 2017
Works on: Android and iOS
Twine empowers patients to be active participants in their health care activities. According to the company, the app synchronizes the plans, notes, actions and communications of every care team member in real time. Patients are able to work with their care providers to co-create action plans with goals. Via connected devices, it’s also possible to sync data with Apple HealthKit to track progress and shape healthy behaviors.
Scheduling and efficiency
Patients aren’t the only ones who can benefit from apps that help to keep track of activity around health care. Doctors may have help from assistants to keep them on schedule, but it doesn’t hurt to be self-sufficient. If you’re looking for some more help, you might check out these apps.
App: Amion — Physician Scheduler
Produced by: Doximity
Price: Free
Current Version: 3.3.1
Last Update: Feb. 26, 2017
Works on: Android and iOS
The Amion — Physician Scheduler does just what the name suggests — it helps doctors keep track of their schedules. The homepage shows the shift schedule, while alerts and notifications inform physicians of schedule changes. The app also allows users to send and receive HIPAA-secure texts to coordinate schedules or communicate scheduling issues. Teams using the app can see who else is on call and also view each other’s schedule.
“With over 200,000 users, Amion is far and away the most popular physician scheduling software available today. The Amion app gives physicians a customizable mobile calendar and schedule, and makes it easy to communicate with colleagues through Doximity’s HIPAAsecure document sharing and messaging,” said Joel Davis, vice president of growth.
App: Jellyfish CONNECT
Produced by: Jellyfish Health
Price: Free
Current Version: 3.0.0
Last Update: Jan. 11, 2017
Works on: Android and iOS
A common complaint from patients occurs due to an event that happens before they even see their doctor. No one likes waiting, and when someone’s not feeling well, that dislike for wasting time is multiplied. That’s where Jellyfish CONNECT comes in. The app allows users to view estimated wait times, view and confirm appointments, access maps providing directions to and around a facility and more. According to the company’s content and media relations manager, Chad Van Alstin, the company gets its name because it aims “to improve transparency, boosting patient satisfaction by providing patients with an honest, more efficient service experience.” Just as barcode readers have finally made it from the grocery store to common use in health care in the past decade, Jellyfish CONNECT is bringing technology that’s been used in restaurants for years into the health care setting.
Reference and collaboration
Health care has no lack of terminology and it’s possible to go years or even a full career without needing to know much of it. But when a doctor is stumped, it’s reassuring to know there are places to go to find answers.
