Progress in Mobile Health

Although the number of mobile health applications has grown dramatically over the past few years, there has not been a corresponding rise in the number of people downloading health apps, the Washington Post reports.

Rise in Mobile Health Apps

Brian Dolan, editor and co-founder of MobiHealthNews, said data show the number of consumer health apps in the Apple Store has increased from 2,993 in February 2010 to 13,619 in April 2012.
He noted, "But a persistent trend is that the majority of these apps are focused on tracking fitness or diet ... and far fewer are focused on what most people would consider true health problems, like chronic conditions or chronic condition management."

Low Download Rates

Recent data from the Pew Internet and American Life Project indicate that about 88% of U.S. residents have a mobile phone and about 50% of those are smartphones. However, only about 10% of smartphone users have downloaded health-related apps, a figure that has remained steady since 2010.

Susannah Fox, lead health researcher for the project, said, "We are in a situation where we have the technology and we certainly have the need -- just look at all of the statistics on the rise of obesity and other unhealthy trends." She added, "But what we have not yet seen is an uptick in the percentage of people who are adopting and using these health apps."

 

Via nrip

Israel-based startup MediSafe launched an application which reminds users to take their medication if they have forgotten and tells them what dosage to take, via their smartphone or a tracking card.

Via Mary E. Berens-Oney

Despite exuberance in the technology community, there is much resistance in the medical community about the adoption of medical apps for prescribing.

 

Ways in which digital health technologies may be more easily adopted by physicians have been reviewed previously. Some of the potential reasons for pushback by physicians are considered below:

 

1. Lack of reimbursement.

 

2. Bad taste from EHRs.

 

3. Many physicians are still ideologically distant from participatory medicine. 

 

4. Medical apps do not represent sophisticated technology. 

 

5. Physicians don’t believe medical apps will be effective tools. 

 

Source: http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2012/07/5-reasons-prevent-doctors-mobile-apps.html

Via nrip

Barbara Ficarra (@BarbaraFicarra) writes:

 

'Consumers need safe, reliable, trustworthy apps to help guide their health and wellness and help them manage their chronic diseases.

 

The health app world needs guidance. The vast assortment of apps to choose from makes it difficult for consumers to navigate. Which apps are reliable, trustworthy, and medically sound?

 

How do consumers navigate the crowded world of health apps?

 

"Common sense rules," Joseph Kvedar, M.D says. If consumers think it's a "magic app," it probably isn't.

 

It doesn't seem as if there is too much hype -- just little guidance. The push to move the mHealth app world forward may be reside in the demands of consumers to be served with health and wellness apps that are safe, reliable and trustworthy, developed by companies who are not just those looking to "get rich quick'.

 

[AS: Relevance and reliability are clearly paramount when it comes to #mhealth apps; however, I'd add to that apps also need to be interesting, elegant, and functional in order to retain users' interest and support. I've started curating some health games that have caught my eye at healthgames.wordpress.com]

Via Andrew Spong