Healthcare in the Midst of COVID-19: How App Development is Managing the Shudder

With Coronavirus spreading like a wildfire, technologies like AI, Blockchain, and Predictive Analytics are being widely adopted, exercise classes over the Internet are receiving immense popularity and robot designers are making new robots for sanitation and healthcare professionals. The Coronavirus pandemic has brought a new wave of health awareness and self-care, which is also bringing mobile app development into the forefront of nearly every field of the world. 

Coronavirus, also referred to as COVID-19, first showed its creepy face in Wuhan, China in late 2019, and the epicenter of the virus since then has been moving all over the globe at alarming rates. This outbreak is a wake-up call for everyone and demands a new set of tools, medications, and tests that would help healthcare workers to access and control the pandemic. 

Coronavirus and Healthcare 

The healthcare industry is one of the most crucial sectors. If truth be told, no industry has escaped the impact of Coronavirus. Some industries have although coped up better than other industries, and the healthcare industry is one of them. Healthcare professionals are working tirelessly to bring a halt to this pandemic. Various stakeholders are being called up for solutions and techniques. 

Social distancing and curfews are among the best solutions for breaking the chain of coronavirus, but to fully control the situation we need more effective solutions. Technology has always been a close friend of the healthcare industry and has a great history of supporting the latter. From detecting the symptoms to tracking the movement of the virus, various applications have been developed to get the better of this pandemic.

Pressure Points created by COVID-19 in the healthcare industry

Various challenges are being faced by the healthcare industry in the event of Coronavirus pandemic, some of which include:

• Shortage of Medical devices and drugs: According to FDA, there are more than 20 drug products that lie entirely on China for their raw material, manufacturing, and production. With China also facing the heat of Coronavirus, shortage of medical devices and drugs are faced by the healthcare professionals globally. The shortage of masks and Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) is another major issue that is creating a lot of pressure on healthcare workers.

• Safety risks for Patients: With travel being limited due to safety concerns, the production of medical devices being done overseas is also suffering a great loss. This condition would further exaggerate the product shortages and patient safety risks which may arise due to less effective medical products. In Addition to this, Amazon, one of the biggest e-commerce giants, also reported that it has started removing the listing of products from its marketplace that claim to prevent or kill the coronavirus.

• Disruptions in Supply Chain: Along with shortages of medical devices and drugs, the healthcare industry is also facing supply chain disruptions due to its offshore operations to other countries. With the outbreak of Coronavirus almost all the supply chains have been affected and halted the operations as a result of quarantines. 

How App development can help healthcare providers cope with Coronavirus

Free healthcare toolkits, calculators, and screeners are a few tools and services that are now available to reduce the burden on the hospitals and doctors during the outbreak. There are numerous digital healthcare services that are helping the patients to understand the symptoms and take care of their health at the same time, some of which are:

• Telehealth platforms: Telehealth platforms are providing online coronavirus screenings along with an online physician to its users. In addition to providing free online screenings, these platforms also provide the data available to all the clinics and software. Telemedicine keeps its patients out of the emergency rooms, and also allows them to talk to their physicians about the symptoms from home. Also, it allows them to share their summary of their check-ups with other physicians.

• Password crackers to analyze the virus: White hackers are being deployed to use the crowdsourced simulations to understand the behavior of the virus. By using the computational algorithms that help in protein folding, doctors and health-care professionals can understand the virus better, which helps them to intensify their research. Molecular dynamics work on the same procedure of password cracking, and this technique is being effectively deployed.

• Free messengers: Understanding and tracking the virus is as important as spreading awareness about the pandemic. Various mobile applications are being developed that would help healthcare providers to send free messages to the public and patients concerning COVID-19. Another advantage of these applications is that it sends day to day important updates to people who are residing in remote places and have less or no internet connectivity.

• Chatbot for screening symptoms: This is another advantage of healthcare app development. Chatbots can help serve wider areas, by asking people questions about symptoms of COVID-19. This is the perfect application of social distancing as it allows people to analyze symptoms without any need to call the physician or being physically present at ER. Many platforms use the power of the cloud to create seamless digital experiences.

• Digital hiring of Healthcare workers: Hiring healthcare workers in a pandemic is crucially important. Normal hiring processes take four to eight months, and to reduce this time app developers are deploying applications that would help to speed up the process. During these natural disasters, every region would require a sudden need for nurses and physicians. 

Conclusion

In a nutshell, application development is helping overturn this grim situation at a rapid pace. Healthcare workers are on the front-line in this situation. By far, the healthcare industry has relatively coped-up very well in such a situation, however, it still needs further developments to continue doing so. Furthermore, it is important to understand that technology has an indispensable role in the healthcare industry, and if used adequately, would prove to be very beneficial. 

Application development can prove to be beneficial for the Healthcare Industry, both for controlling and managing the epidemic. Seeking someone who could help develop a healthcare app for your business in this critical situation? Debut Infotech has got you covered! Drop us a line at info@debutinfotech.com or give us a ring at +1-703-537-5009