The relevance of mobile applications helping in doctor–patient relationships

Smartphone applications are becoming a major part of 21st-century doctor–patient relationships.¹ Medical follow-ups that constantly monitor their health are extremely important for people with chronic conditions. These patients are more likely to develop additional symptoms, physical or mental, which will result in more visits to their GPs and unnecessary medical examinations. Or other patients with chronic illness might miss or neglect early symptoms of relapse as they rely too much on the routine of taking the same medications and going for only scheduled check-ups. For checking physiological data, ’logging applications’ might prove useful because one’s calorie intake, lifestyle, and activity can be monitored. However, these apps give relatively little and limited feedback to the users. Also, patients can only notify their physician in person if a problem occurs according to these applications.

To solve this problem, some new software is currently being tested and developed in Hungary that will help GPs and patients communicate more efficiently, and eventually it will be available for the whole population (NetDoktor, https://www.netdoktor.hu). The patients can call their doctor through the application, send their examination results right after receiving them, easily make an appointment, or pay medical bills. Moreover, the GP will see all the patient’s prescriptions and the exact time the medicine was purchased, and can send reminders of an upcoming appointment. A fixed appointment will also appear on both parties’ calendars. The patient’s profile can be connected to an online database, where GPs can upload prescriptions using their digital signature. These are accessible to pharmacies, so patients can purchase their medicine easily. This process is meant to simplify health care by minimising face-to-face consultation between patients and GPs. The application is not only tested by healthcare professionals but by carefully chosen patients too, who are expected to give valuable feedback and ideas to improve this new system during the experimental period. To sum up, this innovation should be received positively as it’s not only making health care more convenient and easier to use but will also improve compliance and adherence, and optimise persistence.

• © British Journal of General Practice 2020