A new report by the Website MobiHealthNews shows substantial growth for mobile applications that serve as a health resource, though health-monitoring tools lagged in use.
The Website
MobiHealthNews has published a
report
showing growth in mobile reference applications for
the medical field.
In the
report "The Fastest Growing and Most Successful Health & Medical Apps,"
MobiHealthNews says the number of mobile health applications has grown by 78
percent, though about 20 percent of mobile users in the United
States are using smartphones.
Medical
reference applications saw more growth than applications that monitored conditions
or vital signs, the report stated. Between Feb. 9 and Aug. 24, health reference
applications grew 91.7 percent, compared with 34.5 percent for applications
related to chronic disease, the study reveals.
Among
the most popular mobile health applications are
WebMD's
Medscape and Epocrates.
"Chronic
condition management apps will become more successful and more numerous once
personal connected health devices become available," Brian Dolan, editor
of MobiHealthNews, said in an e-mail to eWEEK.
"Many
of these devices are under review by the FDA, which is currently working to
better understand wireless connected medical devices and related software to
determine how to best approach regulation of these devices and services,"
Dolan said. "Once the FDA sheds more light on the regulatory environment
for connected health devices, a flood of smartphone apps will enter app stores
to help users better visualize the data they collect," he said.
Meanwhile,
electronic medical records applications that provide remote access for charge
capture or e-prescribing led to growth of more than 86 percent, Dolan said.
Although
Apple's App Store had the most health applications, at 7,136 as of September,
Google's Android Store was the fastest-growing, followed by BlackBerry App
World.
Applications
that required the least interaction were more popular than those that help
users manage their vital health data or chronic conditions, MobiHealthNews
found.
"Anyone
who can develop an app can create a medical reference app," Dolan
explained. "Some of the most successful ones are simple flashcard apps
that offer a series of simple facts about various health topics. Any developer
can create an app that repurposes general health information."
In
Apple's top 1,000 applications for health and fitness, more than 200 applications
focused on cardio exercises such as running and biking, while at least 150
related to diet, according to Dolan.
Also,
about 580 applications in Apple's health and fitness group were related to
medical references, he said.
"As
personal health information begins to flow from electronic medical records and
from personal health devices, the number of personal health apps will
spike," Dolan said. "That's when consumer health apps will begin to
realize the true potential of mobile platforms."
However,
in a
recent
survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, only
15 percent of respondents aged 18 to 29 had installed applications on their
mobile phones to manage and track their health, though 96 percent of Americans
in that age range own a mobile phone.
"While
hundreds of new health-related apps flood the market each week, the ones that
bubble up to the top-and stay there-are the ones that put the consumer and the
patient in the middle and empower them to make better use of their personal
health information," MobiHealthNews concluded in the report.
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