Five ways in which the medical app industry is maturing

There are now more than 13,000 health, fitness and medical apps available. In a previous post I discussed "Five creative and necessary ways of getting medical apps adopted"  -  specifically, incorporating medical apps in informatics, uses in schools for health education, government initiatives regarding digital technologies, medical apps in EHR clinical decision support tools and patient portals. These, however, do not necessarily lead to adoption of these apps. Some of these are years away. But the industry is rapidly maturing, and here's how:

1. Credibility is coming. The FDA has finally been given a go-ahead by Congress to move forward with its regulatory requirements for medical apps. Happtique will be initiating an app certification program in the fall after having announced its draft standards.  The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is evaluating the efficacy of medical apps.  All these initiatives are aimed at differentiating quality and effective apps. Healthcare providers, patients and payers all are interested in adopting medical apps into their care models, but are clamoring for guidance. Hopefully, these endeavors will provide that support.

2. The distinction between consumer apps and medical apps is evolving. The vast majority of apps in the health, fitness and medical sector fall into consumer health and fitness categories. Curating and categorizing apps has been helpful; however, making the distinction between consumer-oriented and medical apps is, I believe, a crucial step in moving toward adoption of medical apps. This is not to say that wellness and fitness apps are not useful or usable by patients with diseases. Their clinical scopes of purpose and target users are different. The distinction by designation would facilitate use.

3. The development of medical apps, specifically for children, is important. Patient engagement is an integral part of existing medical apps used by adolescents for diabetes. Apps aimed at children with other, more severe diseases where medication adherence has greater implications are needed. The gamification and incentives are critical elements of such apps. In a cursory search on Amazon.com, Fisher-Price has at least three different model toy cell phones for infants, including simulated smartphones. There are many other companies in the mix as well. Children are given smartphones with games as mental pacifiers, much the way television was for baby boomer children. Can we develop effective apps for even these patients? Having effective apps for children and adolescents can result in a new generation of patient that is both connected and medical app-ready.

4. Medical apps will be to healthcare what ATMs are to banking. Mobility is king. People no longer desire nor are able to be tethered to desks or PCs. The days of waiting hours or days for a physician, insurer or pharmacy to return a call are over. There are apps for that. Moreover, apps connect patients to providers seamlessly via sensors, cloud-based data sent bidirectionally, social media and messaging. Patient education, physician and other provider education, healthcare operations and other stakeholder support and communications are all available via apps. When one needs banking services, the immediate thought is "Where is the nearest ATM?" This occurs worldwide. Medical apps can be the go-to resource for healthcare in the same regard. We need apps, however, that engage and keep patients going back to them. THIS is the key. ATMs succeed because they deliver what we expect. The same expectations are necessary from medical apps.

5. Payers and pharma are buying into the concept. Critical stakeholders like payers and the pharmaceutical industry are realizing the potential for medical apps. They know this is where their customers and users are. They realize that the usual customer service business model is neither as effective nor cost-effective as an app.  The data that can be mined from apps is more direct, accurate and valuable than traditional methods.

It is therefore not unreasonable to imagine health and medical apps as critical bricks in the healthcare building of the future. While not necessarily the foundation, they will become utilities without which the edifice would be far less functional.

David Lee Scher is a former cardiac electrophysiologist and is an independent consultant and owner/director at DLS Healthcare Consulting, LLC, (www.digitalhealthconsultants.com) concentrating in advising digital health companies and their partnering institutions, providers and businesses. A pioneer adopter of remote cardiac monitoring, he lectures worldwide promoting the benefits of digital health technologies. Twitter: @dlschermd, He also blogs at http://davidleescher.com. He was cited as one of the 10 cardiologists to follow on Twitter and one of the top ten blogs on healthcare technology.