Too Much Hype in the Mobile Health App World?

By Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA

[Original post, “Too Much Hype in the Mobile Health App World?” published on The Huffington Post on 7/23/12 in the Healthy Living/Health News Section.]

The Wild West of mobile health (mHealth) is taking the health care industry by storm, but “there are no rules to the game,” said Joseph C. Kvedar, M.D., founder and director at the Center for Connected Health in a recent interview. Mobile health is a “game changer,” he added, but there is a lot of hype because there are a lot of people developing health apps just to “get rich quick.”

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, mHealth is “the use of mobile and wireless devices to improve health outcomes, healthcare services, and health research.” mHealth includes gamification, text messaging, telemedicine/telehealth (remote patient monitoring), electronic health records, and health apps, to name a few.

There’s a lot of enthusiasm surrounding mHealth — from mainstream media tapping into the mHealth rage to social networking sites exploding with discussions about mobility in health care. Take a look at the conversations happening on Twitter and you’ll observe how popular mHealth really is. Follow the hashtags #mHealth, #HealthIT, #HIT100, #apps, #healthapps, #digitalhealth, #hitsm, and #hcsm; and observe the 140 characters of tweets that soar at an accelerated rate through cyberspace offer fiery information. Paul Sonnier’s Linkedin group Digital Health has over 11,000 members to date.

Not only is mHealth soaring through the social networking sites, U.S. revenue in the mHealth market earned $230 million is 2010 and it’s estimated to reach $392 million in 2015, according to a news release by Frost and Sullivan. Globally, Reseach2Guidance reports that the mHealth market will reach $ 1.3 billion this year. Despite mHealth being in its infancy, the revenue projections are significant.

According to a 2011 press release statement from Juniper Research, the number of mobile healthcare and medical app downloads will reach 44 million this year and will reach 142 million globally by 2016.

Follow this link for many more Statistics about the Healthcare Problem & Market Opportunity.

Consumers are downloading apps to help them stay fit, track their pregnancies, monitor their moods, eat healthier, and sleep better. They are also downloading apps for chronic disease management. They can manage their prescriptions, have medication reminders, and monitor blood pressure and sugar levels. Consumers can be empowered to take charge of their health, but right now navigating the array of health apps can be confusing. Consumers lack guidance on choosing a safe, secure, medically sound health app. Trying to navigate the health app craze without direction can be painstakingly difficult.

Cleveland Clinic, Nike Fuel Band, American Red Cross, and Walgreens are known in the space, and consumers may find it easy to trust them and download apps associated with them. However, consumers may find it confusing to navigate the mHealth app world from companies that are off the radar. How do consumers know if the apps are safe and reliable?

Consumer Safety Is a Priority

The FDA is prudent on drafting guidelines for developers, but will it stifle innovation? “It may slow innovation, but I don’t know that it stifles it. Regulations do create barriers to entry as they set a high bar. But in so doing, they also create significant economic opportunities for those who follow the appropriate processes and win regulatory approval,” said Bill Crounse, M.D., Senior Director of Worldwide Health at Microsoft Corporation, in an email. “I do think thoughtful regulation is required in the health industry to protect consumers. This is certainly true related to pharmaceuticals and medical devices to protect consumers from harm.”

“The primary role of the FDA is to insure consumer safety,” notes Kvedar. “Mobile health has the potential to get out of hand if not regulated. For example, there is an app that based on self input of one’s carbohydrate count; it will generate insulin dosing suggestions. Clearly this could be dangerous,” he added. “While I don’t think the FDA process will ever eventuate in a ‘consumer report-like’ or ‘D Powers-like’ rating, it will be a filter. If apps get through the filter, we should at least be comfortable that they are safe.”

Aside from safety concerns, there are “two problems with health apps,” said Kvedar. First, after downloading the app, it may be used once or twice and then it’s forgotten, he said. “There’s no engagement.” Secondly, health apps can be prone to error because the data that is self-entered by consumers may not be true. It’s a “social diversity bias problem,” he said, because the data entered isn’t honest and there is no meaningful engagement to help change consumers behavior. After downloading health apps with enthusiasm, the “shiny new toy isn’t so shiny anymore,” because there’s “lack of interest and lack of engagement,” said Kvedar.

Health apps need to be engaging and motivating and offer a coaching component.

“There’s a short shelf life, don’t expect it to change your life,” he said.

Happtique, a mobile health application store and total app management solution released a draft of the standards that it will be using to certify medical, health, and fitness apps under Happtique’s App Certification Program. The purpose of the program is to help users identify apps that meet high operability, privacy, and security standards and are based on reliable content.

Read the rest of this article on Barbara’s blog, including her Bottom Line conclusions.

Related articles at Modern Health Talk:

• FDA to regulate Mobile Medical Apps with Highest Risk
• FDA to regulate Mobile Medical Apps, seeks public input (with lots of good videos)
• 5 reasons Digital Health Technologies need FDA oversight
• How to Find Mobile Apps for Home Health Care

About the Author

Barbara Ficarra, RN, BSN, MPA, is an award-winning journalist, media broadcaster, speaker, medical blogger, consultant, media trainer, and health expert. She is creator, executive producer and host of Health in 30® Radio Show. Barbara is a registered nurse active on the front lines of health care: She is a head nurse at a level 2 trauma center and covers multiple medical and surgical units, critical care, oncology, cardiology and step-down units, the psychiatric in-patient unit and the Women’s and Children’s units, pediatric ER and Barbara has many years experience covering the main emergency room. Her clinical experience ranges from oncology to general medicine and surgery. Read more about Barbara. Barbara is a featured writer on Huffingtonpost. If you enjoyed this article, you can:

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