A third of UK patients prefer mobile apps to doctor visits

 A third of UK patients prefer using mobile healthcare applications to having face-to-face consultations, a new report has found. 

The research, commissioned by Mobiquity and conducted by Censuswide, surveyed 100 doctors  and 1,003 patients in the UK during COVID-19 to understand their experiences with digital healthcare technology and its impact on patient care.

It found that as a result of COVID-19, 33% of patients would rather use a mobile app than visit the doctor. 

Additionally over a third of doctors said that using mobile healthcare applications made it easier to prescribe the right treatment for patients remotely. However respondents cited technical issues and privacy concerns as barriers to using mobile healthcare apps. 

The survey's other findings include: 
 * 56% of UK patients plan to use mobile healthcare applications in the future after using them during COVID-19. 
 * 71% of doctors plan to adopt mobile healthcare applications in the future
 *52% of doctors experienced technical issues, with device compatibility problems being the most frequently reported technical issue
 *28% of patients cited privacy concerns when using mobile healthcare applications during COVID-19

Commenting on the report, Teun Schutte, Managing Consultant at Mobiquity said that the COVID-19 pandemic had been transformational for digital healthcare. "The pandemic has shown the importance of digital health solutions and the need for increased adoption in the future, while at the same time highlighting the benefits around ease of access to care for patients and lower costs for healthcare providers.

“The challenge that exists, however, is how to solve frictions in the delivery of mobile healthcare applications and other types of digital health in the future. Our research highlighted the main barriers to adoption for patients and practitioners, and the areas we need to optimise to ensure digital innovation is scaled successfully to improve patient outcomes. Indeed, technical issues and privacy concerns need to be solved by aligning stakeholder concerns before digital health products are launched" he added. 

“By aligning the digital innovation process and creating a blueprint for scaling the next generation of digital health technologies, as an industry we can scale digital health products or services across disease areas, and across hospitals, markets and regions, ensuring that patients receive personalised, quality care through digital health technologies.”