Latin American healthcare sciences publisher PLM has launched a library of mobile apps to provide healthcare providers with access to the most up-to-date information to deliver better patient care.
The company used the IBM Worklight, part of the IBM MobileFirst application development portfolio, to help convert its medical reference guides into 35 mobile apps, developed within just weeks — as opposed to months — to deliver timely access to information about diseases, treatments and medicines. These apps are available for specific treatment areas such as cardiology, dermatology, obstetrics and oncology.
With better insight into how the data is being accessed and applied by clinicians, PLM will be able to further streamline communications and content.“By transforming our products for today’s mobile world, PLM has been able to improve access to timely, accurate information that is critical to our users, no matter what device or platform they use,” said Antonio Carrasco, general manager of PLM. “As our business continues to grow, IBM can support our evolving mobile initiatives, including the integration of data analytics to further improve medical decisions across individual practices, hospitals and laboratories every day.”
Going forward, PLM will provide clinicians with access to healthcare analytics via mobile devices, and even expand to other regions. Additionally, with better insight into how the data is being accessed and applied by clinicians, the company will be able to further streamline communications and content, that will allow it — for instance — to send alerts to users about the availability of new medicines based on consulting patterns.
Mobile device usage among medical professionals is growing rapidly, with as many as 9 out of 10 healthcare providers projected to use smartphones in a professional capacity this year. The leading reason physicians use smartphones is to access drug information.
PLM provides the most widely used medical reference guides in the Spanish-speaking world. The company’s database includes dosing information for different patient characteristics such as age and weight, and highlights potential interactions between prescriptions.