10 Apps for Healthcare Professionals to Improve Practice & Patient Care
In today’s digital age, apps for healthcare professionals have become an integral part of daily work in healthcare organizations.
These advanced tools help with accurate diagnosis and treatment, simplify admin work, and keep people updated.
In this post, we’ll suggest 10 healthcare apps great for healthcare professionals you should try.
What to look for in apps for healthcare professionals
- Employee management tools for managing schedules, engagement, and other aspects related to your workforce.
- Appointment management features for scheduling patient appointments and reminders for appointments.
- EHR (electronic health records) system for easy storage, access, and updates to patient records.
- Prescrition apps for managing and sending more precise prescriptions.
- Messaging and video calling features for communication among team members, between healthcare staff and patients, and for telehealth appointments.
- Payment integrations for billing patients and for patients to pay via their mobile devices.
- Integration with wearables to gather essential health data and to help patients follow their care plans.
- HIPAA compliance to ensure patient privacy and data security.
- Ease of use for both medical staff as well as patients.
10 best apps for healthcare professionals in 2023
1. Camelo — Great for scheduling healthcare staff
Camelo is a scheduling, time and attendance tracking, and messaging app that helps you ensure coverage and communication with healthcare staff.
With a user-friendly interface and convenient scheduling features, you can maintain different types of flexible schedules and assign shifts quickly.
Your team can communicate their availability in advance. The app alerts you of any scheduling conflicts. When someone can’t show up for their work, they can swap shifts directly within the app, so you don’t have to step in and find replacements for them.
Managing payroll is quicker with Camelo’s employee time-tracking feature. The time clock records worked hours and generates timesheets automatically, so you just need to export them for payroll.
Main features:
- Shift scheduling
- Time tracking & timesheets
- Communication
Pricing:
- Free plan
- Paid plans start at $1.9/month
Pros:
- Available on all devices
- Affordable
- Quick customer support
Cons:
- Limited third-party integrations
Try Camelo — The Scheduling App for Healthcare Professionals →.
2. Medscape — Great for reading and updating medical information
Medscape is a valuable resource of accurate information for healthcare professionals. This platform provides many features, including drug information, disease referencing, patient care tutorials, and clinical tools.
Medscape not only provides the latest medical news and commentary from field experts but also offers comprehensive drug and disease information for reference. The app also offers educational resources regarding medical conditions and diseases, as well as medical procedures.
The app also encompasses essential clinical tools such as drug interaction checkers, over 450 medical calculators, and pill identifiers. With details of over 9200+ drugs and over 7500 reference articles, it’s super quick to find the information you need for decision making.
Main features:
- Educational resources
- Medical news and commentary from experts
- Medical calculators
- Live events and consulting network for medical professionals
Pricing:
- Free
Pros:
- Available on all devices
- Free
- Huge source of reliable information
Cons:
- Some users raise concerns about the bias of publications.
- Search queries need to be accurate.
3. epocrates — Great for identifying diseases and pills
The Epocrates app grants healthcare providers access to an extensive range of medical resources and treatment plans.
Medical staff can easily access information on drugs and diseases, and their interactions. There’s also access to over 600 medical calculators, equations, and risk scores.
Epocrates also has a Plus plan that adds more details on infectious disease treatment, alternative medicines, and lab tests.
The app also introduces a unique feature called athenaText, enabling doctors to connect with other doctors for referrals and consultations.
Main features:
- Drug and disease information
- Interaction check
- Clinical guidelines
- Medical calculators
- Medical news
Pricing:
- Free plan
- epocrates+ is $174.99.
Pros:
- Available on all devices
Cons:
- Contains ads
- The premium plan can be expensive for small healthcare businesses
4. VisualDX — Great for referencing images of diseases
VisualDx is a trusted diagnostic clinical decision support system that helps enhance diagnostic accuracy, assist in therapeutic decisions, and improve patient safety.
It offers a wide range of features, including a curated medical image library, an atlas for skin of color, a smart search function for chief complaints, diagnoses, and drug reactions, as well as a customizable patient-specific differential diagnosis builder.
The platform provides a huge library of digital medical images that cover all specialties, age groups, skin types, disease variations at different stages, and varying levels of severity. This is helpful for clinicians in diagnosing various diseases, including rare conditions.
Main features:
- Medical image library
- Atlas of skin color
- Diagnosis builder
Pricing:
- Free plan
- $400/year
Pros:
- Good for dermatosis
Cons:
- Expensive
5. Complete Anatomy — Great for learning and referencing anatomy
Complete Anatomy offers a 3D representation of the human body’s anatomical structure. It’s great for studying anatomy and explaining patients’ conditions. This is great for collaboration among doctors, for training students, and for talking to patients.
Users of Complete Anatomy can access an interactive anatomy model, muscle movement, and bone mapping. There are videos and lectures for learning and referencing. The paid plan allows you to annotate the model, facilitating in-depth analysis and explanation.
Main features:
- 3D anatomy models and customization
- Access on all devices
- Videos and courses
- Interactive radiology images
Pricing:
- Free trial
- $99.99/year
Pros:
- Detailed and realistic anatomy references
Cons:
- The app is glitchy for some users
6. Calculate — Great for making decisions
QxMD Calculate offers practical insights and tools through research to support healthcare professionals in making informed decisions.
Calculate also offers more than 400 unique calculators and decision support tools. These calculators cover various scores and indices, including neurosurgery, cardiology, hematology, internal medicine, and more.
Main features:
- Practical insights from research
- Medical calculators
Pricing:
- Contact vendor
Pros:
- Access on all devices
Cons:
- Long loading time
- Needs internet access
- No public pricing
7. doximity — Great for telehealth
Doximity offers a secure calling feature that ensures privacy in your conversations with patients and colleagues. You can call from your cell phone while displaying your office number.
With The Universal Clinician Directory, you can reach out to any healthcare provider in the US instantly without having to Google them.
Besides making video or voice calls and finding experts, you can stay updated with personalized news, and earn CME credits by reading articles. Additionally, you can conveniently send HIPAA-secure faxes directly from your personal phone, without using a fax machine.
Main features:
- Making calls while displaying office number
- Clinician directory
- Fax without fax machine
Pricing:
- Free plan
- Contact vendor for paid plan
Pros:
- Access on all devices
- HIPAA compliant
Cons:
- Some users complain about call dropping
8. Referral MD — Great for managing referrals
Referral MD helps healthcare providers route patients to the best and most appropriate provider while providing comprehensive patient communication and support.
The platform ensures efficient management of patient referrals by notifying staff when attention is required and automating updates to referring providers, eliminating the need for back-and-forth communication.
Additionally, the platform features a healthcare CRM with a vast network of over 5 million providers, enabling doctors to easily find and connect with referral partners.
With Referral MD, patients can schedule their own appointments and communicate with their doctors. The ReferralMD platform is HIPAA-compliant and meets rigorous security standards.
Main features:
- Appointment scheduling
- Care plan management
Pricing:
- Contact vendor
Pros:
- HIPAA compliant
Cons:
- Limited reporting features
9. Cerner Ambulatory — Great for ambulatory professionals
Cerner Ambulatory offers ambulatory care solutions to organizations, including patient engagement tools, communication features, and virtual health check capabilities.
The app prioritizes communication between systems and providers directly within the ambulatory workflow. It also ensures compliance with HIPAA regulations to safeguard patient privacy.
Healthcare professionals can find and access patients’ electronic health records using both mobile and desktop devices.
Cerner Ambulatory also provides other features such as ePrescribing and nCoding, which all helps with reducing errors and saving valuable time for healthcare professionals.
Main features:
- Patient engagement tools
- Communication tools
- Virtual health check
Pricing:
- Contact vendor
Pros:
- HIPAA compliant
Cons:
- Hard to search
- Few third-party integrations
10. Dock Health — Great for managing tasks
Dock Health is one of the rare task management apps made for healthcare teams. Healthcare professionals can easily assign and delegate tasks, communicate activity status, create structured workflows with templates, and collaborate on patient care.
As a cloud-based workflow management tool, Dock Health streamlines both administrative and clinical tasks, keeping the team on the same page. Also, the app complies with HIPAA regulations, ensuring the security of sensitive data.
Main features:
- Task management
- Workflow management
Pricing:
- Free trial
- Paid plans start from $15/month
Pros:
- Monitored by government
Cons:
- Only available on web and iOS
What are healthcare apps for professionals?
Healthcare apps for professionals are apps that support healthcare providers in delivering high-quality patient care and improving their workflow. They can help track patient records, provide tools for diagnosis and prescriptions, facilitate communication with patients, and more.
Types of apps for healthcare professionals
Apps for healthcare professions are divided into 6 main types:
1. Clinical decision support
These apps provide evidence-based guidelines and diagnostic tools to help healthcare professionals make accurate and informed decisions.
2. Administration and management
These apps help healthcare professionals manage their practice and patients efficiently. They include nurse scheduling, appointment scheduling, billing and invoicing, staff management, hospital management, and administrative tasks.
3. Communications and consulting
These apps facilitate communication among healthcare staff, and between healthcare staff with patients. They help professionals monitor patients and deliver healthcare remotely. They include virtual consultations, remote patient monitoring, and telemedicine services.
4. Medication management
These apps assist healthcare professionals in prescribing medications, checking drug interactions, and providing dosage guidance to ensure safe and effective medication administration.
5. Medical references and resources
Apps in this category provide medical references, drug information, clinical guidelines, medical calculators, and research materials, facilitating evidence-based practice.
6. Medical education
Continuing medical education (CME) apps offer educational resources, courses, and learning modules to support professionals in developing their skills and staying updated with the latest advancements in their field.
Benefits of using apps for healthcare professionals
- Improves decision making. Healthcare professionals can access real-time data and insights to make informed decisions quickly.
- Gets real-time and accurate data. Data helps identify symptoms, give more accurate prescriptions, and make more effective treatment plans.
- Helps patients keep track, adhere to care plans, and communicate with doctors. Healthcare apps help patients manage their health conditions. Patients can access their medical records and prescriptions, or schedule appointments through apps. They can adhere to care plans better using features such as medication reminders, appointment notifications, trackers, wearable devices, etc.
- Streamlines operations, communication, and administration. Apps such as EHR or nurse scheduling can reduce paperwork and confusion. Telehealth and remote monitoring apps can reduce physical space, resources, and costs.
FAQs
Are professional healthcare apps that help diagnose patients reliable?
The reliability of professional healthcare apps in diagnosing patients can vary. Healthcare apps can be a great source for medical research, calculators, pill identifiers, and other features that help with diagnosis and treatments.
However, these apps should be used as supplementary tools only. The final diagnosis and treatment decisions should be made by qualified healthcare professionals.
You should choose reputable and evidence-based apps that are regularly updated and validated by credible sources. Also, assess the specific needs and budgets of your healthcare clinic to choose a suitable tool for your practice.
Final thoughts
Apps for healthcare professionals are valuable tools for medical staff, from giving diagnosis and treatment to administration and learning.
Try out our suggestions and see how they help with your practice.
Interested in an app that simplifies scheduling, time tracking, and communication? Sign up for a free Camelo account today →.
