With healthcare reform and more advanced data becoming available, mobile health apps will not only see growing number of users, but studies suggest they will, for the first time, become people's preferred resource over physicians.
According to a study by ITOnline, two-thirds of Americans have already shown a favor for digital health management over physical. The study also shows 79 percent of Americans said they would be willing to use a wearable device to manage their health, where a 45 percent wanted tracking of symptoms while 43 percent wanted it to manage a personal health issue or condition.
The study shows that health apps have some of the highest number of downloads. “As user trust continues to grow for these apps, collaborations that bring together activity tracking, period tracking, weight and diet tracking will merge, with powerful overall health results," the study states. "More than ever, doctors will need to connect in with the app ecosystem or be left behind.”
Kindara's recent study predicts more women will use mobile apps to conceive than ever before, helping with more than 75% of all pregnancies. “There are apps to chart your fertility, suggest baby names, support your prenatal fitness, and learn about the development of the baby,” the study states. According to a study done by Citrix, 47 percent of people using mobile health apps are already using a pregnancy related application.
Women will trust their mobile health apps and communities more than their doctors says Kindara’s study. “In 2016, we will see women steering away from doctor’s offices and into their smartphones largely due to the multitude of digital health tools that are available.”
Two-thirds of women said they would use a mobile app to manage health-related issues. With growing data sets and peer-to-peer communities such as Health Tap, mobile apps are becoming the primary source for women to manage treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of health conditions.
Will Sacks, CEO and Co-founder of Kindara says 2016 is going to be an explosive year for women’s health companies. "Women will continue to demand more out of their health products, and companies will need to innovate or they will be left behind.”
Big pharm companies are launching hundreds of mobile apps that educate users on drugs while corporations take extra mobile strides to keep employees health insurance costs down says the PWC study. “Employers are embracing connected tools to engage employees in wellness programs and chronic disease management, and health plans are using the same to reduce spending. Drug makers have been creating apps—more than 700 so far—to connect with their customers.”
PWC also predicts more connection between mobile health and the U.S. healthcare system which is expected to bleed into other economic industries that have been historically poorly connected to each other. “Just as retailers' move online created new roles for companies that could help with mobile payment, app creation and digital advertising, healthcare’s shift into the palms of consumers’ hands will set off an explosion of new industry needs,” global health consultant Kelly Barnes told MobileStrategies360.com. “Organizations will need help managing utilization, connecting fragmented healthcare providers and overseeing data. Connected tools will create fresh links to industries that rarely interact with healthcare such as retail, financial services and hospitality—and generate opportunities to plug in.”
