Last month, Bristol PCT was the first NHS trust to release an app with the ability to pinpoint local NHS services (through GPS), issue GP appointment reminders and even provide a ‘panic’ button in case the user experiences an emergency.  This is just one of many apps appearing to enable us to live better and healthier lifestyles. Last week, the Mail released their top ten health apps to ‘keep the doctor away’. The list includes a body mass index calculator, first aid guide from St John’s Ambulance, symptom checker and diagnosis gizmo, hypnotherapy smoking cessation tool and even a ‘period’ diary to track the menstruation cycle of women trying to get pregnant. In the US, ‘AirStrip technologies’ are going that little bit further with an app that enables hospital doctors to check patients’ blood results from the lab, monitor bedside ECGs (in real-time) from anywhere in the world and view any data anomalies.

It is with no doubt that healthcare is being propelled into the digital sphere. It makes perfect sense too as whether you live in the UK or abroad, distance and expense is a major barrier to health education, service provision or access to treatments. Having instant, hand-held and remote access to information and services breaks down these barriers. With all these new applications being released, we might see less patients coming through the doors of our GP surgeries and pharmacies (potentially with job losses?). On the other hand, perhaps we’ll see a huge influx of the paranoid worried-well. Only time will tell. One thing is for sure, this emerging technology is providing PR professionals with new and exciting ways to engage, communicate and interact with doctors and patients.