An app in healthcare can refer to two different things: Advanced Practice Providers (APPs) or software applications.
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Advanced Practice Providers (APPs): APPs are healthcare professionals who have advanced training and can perform many of the same tasks as physicians. They include Nurse Practitioners (NPs) or Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRNs), Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs), and Physician Assistants (PAs) . APPs can take patient histories, conduct physical exams, order lab work and other tests, deliver babies, help patients manage chronic conditions, and make referrals to specialists or other services.
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Software Applications: Healthcare apps are software programs that perform tasks such as sending reminders to take medications, providing education, or enabling a person to record blood pressure measurements. Patients have widespread access to many types of healthcare apps, which hold promise for increasing access to care. However, the absence of meaningful clinical evaluation for many of these apps raises potential patient safety issues.
It is important to note that APPs and healthcare apps are two distinct concepts in healthcare.