6 Keys To Developing A Successful mHealth App
By Joel Lindsey
Although mHealth apps are designed to help patients achieve better healthcare results, some worry that this ever-broadening field of apps has its own set of maladies.
In a recent interview with ACO News, Christopher Wasden, managing director at PricewaterhouseCooper, described what he called “an ecosystem of apps that are almost useless.”
“The mHealth market has exploded,” Wasden said. “But it has exploded in volume not value.”
Wasden’s diagnosis comes on the heels of a report published in late 2013 by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics. The report, which claims to include an “analysis of the 40,000+ healthcare apps available for download from the U.S. Apple iTunes app store,” focused on what it concluded was an ailing body of mHealth apps.
“There is a significant skew in download volume for healthcare apps, with more than 50% of available apps achieving fewer than 500 downloads,” the study reported. “Conversely, 5 apps account for 15% of all downloads in the healthcare category.”
Three months after that report, Wasden sees a transition taking place — from quantity to quality.
“We are moving from volume of apps to apps that are more valuable,” he said. “As we do that, we will see consolidation, and effective apps will be integrated into other solutions.”
In the interview, Wasden outlined what he calls the six basic principles that will drive the successful development and adoption of mHealth apps:
- Apps must be seamlessly integrated into the lifestyles of patients and the workflow of doctors.
- Successful apps must work smoothly across multiple information technology systems and devices.
- mHealth apps must provide valuable and meaningful insights to help patients change their behavior, not just raw data.
- Effective apps should facilitate the sharing of information with healthcare communities to support patients as they work to change their behaviors.
- Apps need to be fun to use and engaging; patients should want to return to the app time and again.
- Good mHealth apps should be able to gather information, track changes in patient behavior, and provide better health outcomes.
In Wasden’s opinion, the majority of the healthcare apps available today do not fulfill any of his guiding principles.
His advice?
“Don’t be afraid of the regulatory approval process. Focus on the six principles that will create value in the health care ecosystem so that these apps become useful. At the end of the day, if we are not changing people’s behavior, we are wasting our time.”