There's an app for that: Clinicians are using apps to improve care, engage patients

When Dr. Yaron Elad is having a hard time convincing a patient that a test is unnecessary, he sometimes pulls out his smartphone right in the exam room.

Elad, a cardiologist at 
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, uses the phone to give the patient information from Choosing Wisely, an app developed by the ABIM Foundation to help cut down on wasteful treatments.

“It can be helpful to have backup when you're talking to patients,” Elad said, saying the app gives him the support he sometimes needs to convince a patient of his opinion.

He's not alone in the practice. Consumer technology has a way of seeping into healthcare, so it's no surprise that more and more providers are turning to their mobile devices to help make diagnoses, communicate with their peers and get work done.