Why ask the Doctor, when you can just ask your phone?

Got the sniffles? Feeling under the weather? Never fear, there’s a new Doctor in the house.

With more smartphones in use, it’s hardly surprising that people are turning to mobile applications for actionable health-related information.

Seventy eight per cent of Stateside consumers have expressed an interest in using their their phones to diagnose and find cures for their ailments.

The new age of comms us seeing smartphone owners interacting with physicians via mobile and wireless monitoring for a variety of medical conditions.

Want even more proof? The mobile app for the iPhone from leading healthcare site WebMD had 1.6 million downloads in its first three months.
All in all it signals a new era, opening the door for health IT companies and healthcare providers.

But how should marketers in the health sector best approach mobile?

A new report, Mobile Health 2010 aims to provide some answers and advice on the topic. It’s been developed by Dr. Mary Cronin and provided as a resource by Renu Mobile.  Best of  all it’s free to download.

Highlights of best practice include:

Best Practice: Smartphone Health Apps

•    Clarify the intended use and target user of the application to provide integration with relevant mobile heath resources and options to extend the value of the app.
•    Design apps with a keen eye toward user safety and health care data security.
•    Example: Healthagen’s iTriage App allows access to prescription information and a history of previous care for keeping track of multiple prescriptions and care providers for their family members.

Best Practice: Mobile Web Design

•    Make it easy for mobile web users with smaller screens to navigate for site information and services by limiting large graphics and animations.
•    Provide a prominent search box and provide search results in a quick review with clear descriptions of each link.
•    Example: The Mayo Clinic is targeting all mobile consumers by developing mobile browser compatible web sites that highlight most-used resources.

So maybe the next time you reach for the Kleenex, maybe it should be for the phone instead…