Background: In this era of digital innovation, mobile health (mHealth) has emerged as a novel concept in the health care industry. Mobile Health is defined as using mobile communications for health interventions and information, and involves the use of portable devices that are capable of creating, storing, retrieving, and transmitting data to improve the safety, quality of care, and health of end users. However, the efficacy of these apps in improving healthcare delivery to Muslim pilgrims arriving in Saudi Arabia each year is yet to be determined. Objectives: The purpose of our study was to assess whether the use of mobile health apps improves pilgrims experience, and to compare the patient experience between users and nonusers. Methods: The Outpatient Experience Questionnaire was the basis of our survey, which included 5 dimensions (physical environment and convenience, physician-patient communication, health information, short-term outcome, and general satisfaction), 25 items, and Pilgrims demographic characteristics (gender, age, education, marital status, nationality, living place, self-rated health status) with good reliability and validity. Results: A sample of 1346 pilgrims was randomly selected from Holy Mosque, Alansar Hospital and King Fahd Hospital in Madinah, Saudi Arabia. The inclusion criteria were age 18years or above, consenting to participation, completing hospital visit, and offering their own experience accurately and independently in the questionnaire. Data entry and management were performed using Epidata 3.1, and analysed using SPSS Version 20.0, 2011. The mHealth app users were more likely to be young (p= 0.02), married (p=0.03), and better educated (p=0.014) than non-users. The app users also gave higher scores in the dimensions of Physical Environment and Convenience (P=0.005), Physician- Patient Communication (P=0.004), Provision of Health Information (P=0.001), Short term Outcome (P=0.001), and Overall Patient Satisfaction (P=0.001). Recommendation: Based on these results, we recommend the development of a novel, user friendly mobile health application, specifically tailored to the felt need of the pilgrim community.
