Health apps: the step from being a novelty to becoming another tool in the surgery

Following a detailed analysis and assessment of more than 40,000 applications available in the “health” category of the Apple Store in the United States, the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics has concluded that most apps available today are limited in their functionality and are very simple, as they only provide the user with information.

The authors of the study have also observed a significant bias in the volume of apps downloaded on smartphones and tablets: just five apps account for 15% of the total downloads in the “health” category in the United States. This led them to study the barriers on the use of the apps. 

Today patients are able to access a huge number of health apps with little or no guidance on the quality of its contents by the medical specialists, who might help in the choice. Alongside this, the doctors are aware of the potential benefits of apps, but remain very cautious to recommend them officially, even though it seems that the prescription of apps will become something standard in the near future. 

In this sense, the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics has identified a total of six key obstacles braking the recommendation of apps by the doctors:

• The difficulty in choosing the right app for the patient’s condition, due to lack of evidence or tests. 
• The lack of official infrastructures (forms, prescription, etc.) for prescribing apps. 
• The possible regulations of the industry or government. 
• The privacy and security of the data that the app generates or can transmit to others. 
• The funding of the cost of the app, if it is not free. 
• The legal responsibility (linked to the doctor or the institution where they work) as a result of the healthcare professional recommending the use of the application. 

According to the report “Patient Apps for Improved Healthcare: from novelty to mainstream”, published this October, according to which healthcare apps are reaching the phase of maturity in their use, we should pass from the recommendation of apps out of need in sporadic cases to the prescription of apps as a systematic component fully integrated in healthcare. There are four key steps in this process: 

1. To achieve recognition from healthcare professionals and administration of the potential of apps in healthcare management. Although apps give more power to patients and contribute to assuring their adherence to the prescribed treatments, it must be clearly remembered that an app can never replace the healthcare given by a professional.
2. To create a global benchmark standard with regard to safety and privacy to protect the health information in apps. At a time when technology is evolving ever faster, the self-regulation of the industry may be the most effective way to ensure that users trust the innovation. 
3. To systematically choose and assess healthcare apps. The curation of apps contents may help doctors and patients to take decisions on their adequate use.
4. To integrate apps with other ICT systems in health. The applications must be integrated with the electronic clinical records and patient portals, which requires collaboration between the different agents involved.

Therefore, the step into action must be led by the apps developers and the healthcare providers, who must be prepared to work together with the other ICT teams to assure cost efficiency for the health system. 

In addition to assessment and integration, a change of perspective is also needed. In a context of transition towards healthcare models focused on the patient, healthcare professionals must begin to see patients as responsible partners capable of managing their own health. Despite all of the above premises, the involvement of patients by the experts is an indisputable condition in achieving improvements in the results of health thanks to mHealth. 

Bibliographic reference

Patient Apps for Improved Healthcare: from novelty to mainstream. IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, October 2013 [access: 9 December 2013]. Available at: http://www.imshealth.com/…