Frankfurt / M. - Payers and employers expect evidence of better health and fewer hospital stays before they are ready to reimburse the cost of mobile health applications. This is the result of worldwide evaluation of mobile health apps for patients by the.
The institute classified more than 43,000 apps according to the following categories: prevention / healthy lifestyle; Search for doctor / health facility; Diagnosis / education; Redeeming prescriptions and adherence to therapy. “The development and use of mobile health apps for consumers is increasing rapidly - the offer is becoming more and more confusing for both patients and doctors,” said Murray Aitken, Managing Director of the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics.
The vast majority of health apps have fairly simple functions; few can provide more than basic information. “Therefore, there are great opportunities for the development and implementation of mobile health apps to upgrade this relatively new technology and thus integrate it as an integral part of health services and their management,” said the director.
According to the study, doctors have positive attitude towards health apps that involve patients more and motivate them to take more responsibility for their personal health decisions. “Doctors also see benefit in the applications with which information can be transmitted via smartphone from any location or patient data can be transmitted directly to the doctor's practice in real time,” says Aitken.
The doctor receives more comprehensive picture of the patient's state of health between visits - the patient may have to come to the practice less often.