Study Underscores the Potential of Mobile Health App in Healthcare Decisions

Smartphones and tablets may hold the key to getting more nurses to diagnose patients with chronic health issues like obesity, smoking, and depression—three of the leading causes of preventable death and disability. Mobile devices loaded with a custom app that prompts clinicians to follow evidence-based guidelines to make treatment decisions and document care plans makes nurses significantly more likely identify these health issues during routine exams, according to a study from Columbia University School of Nursing published in the Journal for Nurse Practitioners.

"What clinicians need is decision support tools that fit into their workflow and remind them of evidence-based practices," says lead study author Suzanne Bakken, PhD, RN, FAAN, FACMI, Alumni Professor of Nursing and Professor of Biomedical Informatics at Columbia Nursing. "Our app focused specifically on the work that nurse practitioners do to identify health problems, counsel patients, and coordinate care plans, resulting in higher diagnosis rates and more opportunities for intervention."

Read the complete report at MedicalXpress: http://bit.ly/1MEDe9e