mHealth and Photography: Redefining Patient Care

30% of healthcare's up-and-coming demographic - the much-discussed millenial - has admitted to taking "selfies," or self-portraits taken from smartphones. So what do a bunch of technologically savvy 20-somethings have to do with mHealth? Well, a lot actually.

Photosharing is slowly becoming an industry standard in mHealth. The ability to diagnose symptoms from a patient's self-taken portrait has drastically increased efficiency. We recently wrote about Iagnosis, a mobile health IT company that released an app as part of its DermatologistonCall platform which lets doctors and patients to securely exchange images and diagnoses.

For these doctors, the ability to efficiently and reliably diagnose skin conditions remotely saves them from unnecessary and costly ER visits. They have also seen enhancements in patient retention and reputation.

Patients appreciate on-demand diagnoses that save them money, so they're more likely to send referrals to doctors who provide such services.

Functionality is becoming richer as well. There are a lot of interesting mHealth apps  that use algorithms to help doctors recognize symptoms easier. By tagging certain portions of a picture to better reveal diagnoses, doctors can work just as effectively remotely as they can from an in-office visit.

What do you think? How will photosharing help or hurt your day-to-day at your practice?