Mobile Health (mHealth) is one of the fastest growing mobile sectors. Historically, the healthcare industry has been lagging behind other industries when it comes to innovative business models and adopting new technologies for improved processes, marketing and overall optimization. This is probably one of the reasons why the mobile health sector can be considered “red hot”. The interesting part is that the drivers of innovation are not all coming from the healthcare industry, but also from outsiders that partner with healthcare experts. The following is our list of 2014 trends in the Mobile Health industries that we believe need attention:
Mobile Trends in Numbers…
- 97,000+ mobile apps are related to Health and Fitness
- 42% of the mobile apps related to Health and Fitness are related to paid business models
- 52% of smartphone users gather health-related information on their phone (side note: It is estimated that 2.9 Billion Smartphones will be sold in 2014)
- The Top 10 mobile health apps generate up to 4,000,000 free and 300,000 paid downloads per day
- By 2017, the total mobile health market revenue will reach $26 Billon
The Top Mobile Health apps categories are:
- Weight Loss: > 50 Million
- Exercise: > 26.5 Million
- Women’s Health: > 10.5 Million
- Sleep and Meditation: > 8 Million
- Pregnancy: >7.5 Million
- Tools and Instruments: > 6 Million
The average mobile health user:
- Average age: 35
- 54% are male
- 87% are smartphone users (vs. tablet users)
- 33% own an iPhone
- 85% use social media for Health too
- 76% take a prescription
- 30% are caregivers
Physicians:
- 80% use smartphones and medical apps
- 93% believe that mobile apps can improve patients health
- 40% believe Mobile Health technologies can reduce the number of visits to doctors’ offices
- 25%+ use mobile technology to provide patient care
- 93% find value having a mobile health app connected to Emergency Health.
Top 5 FREE medical apps
- GOOGLE App store:
- Urgent Care 24/7 Medical Help
- Epocrates
- Medscape
- MyChart
- iPharmacy Drug Guide & Pill ID
- ITUNES App store:
- Urgent Care 24/7 Medical Help
- MedCoach
- MyChart
- Ovulation Calendar & Fertility Calculator
- Pregnancy Test & Pregnant Symptom Checker Quiz
Other Mobile Trends …
- Mobile Health will continue to grow consumer empowerment: More then ever, consumers are empowered with access to reviews of physicians, drug information, procedures, prices (e.g. Castlight Health) and the ability to interact with other consumers.
- Mobile devices will reduce cost in managing healthcare service delivery: As providers get paid less, mobile health will help to transform healthcare operations and make organizations more efficient and effective.
- With the transformation and usage of mobile health, the quality of healthcare services will increase: Providers will have the ability to access information easily via mobile devices, which will help them to improve their services.
- Collaboration will increase: Mobile technology also enables easy collaboration across far distances. This trend will increase and will become an integral part of healthcare services in the next 5-10 years.
- Meaningful Use Stage 2 will hugely benefit from mobile health: Mobile health and the integration to the traditional technology backbones of healthcare will be the main enablers of “Meaningful Use Stage 2”.
- mHealth Applications will be native rather then web-based applications.
- The second generation mHealth applications will focus on chronic diseases and niche specialties.
At Points Group, we have expanded our services to keep with these major trends, as the need for mobile services increases. Medical Practices are well advised to take proactive steps towards a mobile strategy for their business. If you have questions or require help with your mobile needs, please, feel free to email me directly at [email protected]
