In a hospital environment, patient care is taken very seriously especially with the focus on the m-health platform. There is the use of urinary catheters which due to their constant use causes a substantial risk for catheter-associated urinary tract infections. The m-health platform offers a platform where we describe the systematic development and usability evaluation provided by the m-health apps. Patient awareness and evaluation of the appropriateness of their catheter through m-health could decrease these healthcare-associated infections.
How do the m-health apps work?
There is increasing use of m-health apps, new tools that have become available for patient engagement and management. Usage of such apps and tools has shown a tremendous ability to improve safety and quality of care. An example of this is seen when patients are provided with tailored information on their medical condition. The m-health apps also provide a means of communication on the patient’s health. An app going by the name ‘hand-washer counter” lets the patients and other providers on its platform track the handwashing to promote infection prevention.
Why is hand hygiene for m-health healthcare so critical?
Hand hygiene among healthcare workers is very critical for infection control in healthcare facilities. M-health services are working to remedy this. It remains a great challenge due to the lack of high-impact and efficacious interventions. Environmental cues and m-health platforms have the potential to turn this situation around. Adequate water sanitation and hygiene are critical in providing quality healthcare in healthcare facilities.
It is believed that the m-health platform services may help reduce healthcare-associated infection. This can be achieved through easy access to guidelines, hand hygiene monitoring support, or step-by-step procedures aimed at reducing infections at the point of clinical care.
The m-health platforms are supporting the development of other new apps intended to help people improve handwashing to maintain their hand hygiene. The new apps are expected to improve handwashing and unnecessary face touching therefore lowering the risk of infection of transmissive diseases
How m-health apps ensure handwashing quality
Hand hygiene is a crucial and cost-effective method of preventing healthcare-associated infections it has however been noted that the quality of handwashing is still on the low. Recent advances in machine learning and wearable sensing have made it possible to accurately measure handwashing quality.
M-health presents a scalable approach to handwashing that can serve to facilitate handwashing behaviors promoted by healthcare experts without the need for home visits. M-health platform was used to deliver text and voice messages. The mobile messages are usually designed characters of a medical doctor while the voice messages are a doctor having discussions with both male and female peer role models around what the key hand hygiene practices are being promoted.
This approach was found to effective and popular with the masses. This is because the text messages were found during the formative research studies to complement the voice messages. They were able to do this by serving as a constant reminder that the information should be shared with one’s friend’s family and colleagues.
Benefits of using m-health apps for hand hygiene initiatives
M-health offers faster access to health care providers
The m-health platform offers efficient access to physicians and healthcare organizations. the patients can quickly send messages, secure appointments, and connect to healthcare providers. the patients enjoy the convenience offered by this platform as they don’t have to travel to meet physicians. Most health systems are responding to this patient demand by offering telemedicine options.
M-health services make remote patient monitoring possible
The ability to track a patient’s health progress has been improved by the m-health platform. Medics can collect the information fed to the mobile device. Mobile devices and health technology especially the wearable devices such as watches, fitness trackers, and wristbands continuously track and monitor the data which is helpful to a medic who is not able to see his patient physically.
