Is Mobile Health Missing Nurses?

One of the most under appreciated groups in healthcare is the nurse. I’m sure that every nurse agrees with me. I think that it’s gotten better in many ways for nurses, but from my experience nurses are often taken for granted. I’m probably to blame as much as the next person.

When I think about all the things I’ve written across the Healthcare Scene network of blogs, it’s pretty rare that I ever do a post that’s focused on the nurses. I can think of hundreds and possibly thousands of times I’ve written about the impact on physicians and patients. Nurses. Not so much. Occasionally they’ll get a tangential mention, but rarely are they the center of any healthcare IT story.

As I think about the mobile health space, I think the same is often true. There are thousands of mobile apps focused on doctors. There are thousands of mobile apps focused on patients. How many are focused on nurses? I can’t remember writing about very many nurse focused mobile health apps.

I think I was reminded of this when I saw @MatthewBrowning in my Twitter stream today. As an RN, he built a product called YourNurseIsOn.com which it seems has now been renamed to IntelliBlast Communication System. It was great to see a nurse providing an IT solution for nurses. I haven’t talked to Matthew for a long time, but I remember him talking about how hard it was for him to sale into hospitals. Despite the fact that it’s hard to sale anything to hospitals, I wonder if the fact that he was selling a nurse focused product made it even harder. Maybe that’s why they changed the name? I don’t know, but what I do know is that it’s been pretty rare that I’ve seen an organization focused on products for nurses.

I think most people realize the vital role that nurses play in healthcare. However, there seems to be a mismatch in the role nurses play in healthcare and the mobile and other healthcare IT tools that are built for them. I wonder what mobile health tools would be created for nurses if they were the focus and not just an afterthought.

About the author

John Lynn

John Lynn is the Founder of HealthcareScene.com, a network of leading Healthcare IT resources. The flagship blog, Healthcare IT Today, contains over 13,000 articles with over half of the articles written by John. These EMR and Healthcare IT related articles have been viewed over 20 million times.

John manages Healthcare IT Central, the leading career Health IT job board. He also organizes the first of its kind conference and community focused on healthcare marketing, Healthcare and IT Marketing Conference, and a healthcare IT conference, EXPO.health, focused on practical healthcare IT innovation. John is an advisor to multiple healthcare IT companies. John is highly involved in social media, and in addition to his blogs can be found on Twitter: @techguy.

2 Comments

  • There are many applications and platform which support nurses. Administration seems occupied with EMRs and ignore the role of nurses especially in the mobile and remote environment.

  • Great post, John. Thank you, for shining light on this topic. Let me mention of PatientSafe Solutions. We bring mobile solutions to all points of care with a focus on trans-disciplinary care teams of front-line clinicians and nurses. We mobilize clinical workflows and protocols, and allow those care teams to deliver the safe, coordinated care using a single handheld appliance-PatientTouch®.

    Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVnFq2ymWj8

    The real problem is the nurses’ voice being lost in the EMR tsunami. While CIOs are aligning more closely with the unique needs and requirements of nurses, the one monolithic IT solution “fits all” fails to meet the unique needs of these dedicated professionals at the Point of Care. Mobility and wireless health is a strategy, not just a technology. Nurses’ requirements for mobile health solutions are unique and an essential tool to achieving high-quality, safe, and effective (cognitive) care, while eliminating waste, and improving productivity and patient satisfaction.

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