As of 2020, mHealth is one of the most fast-growing industries. By 2025, the global market for mobile healthcare solutions is expected to reach $213,6 billion, growing from $50.8 billion in 2020 at CAGR 33,3%. Obviously, the COVID-19 outbreak has become one of the decisive factors that accelerate its development. So what is the exact definition of mHealth and how does it fit with telemedicine?
mHealth is a part of a broader telemedicine concept and refers to means of improving health, doing healthcare research, or delivering healthcare services using mobile technology. While the two terms are closely related, there’s a distinct difference: telemedicine, a.k.a telehealth, implies doctors’ presence, while mHeath may not involve any doctors’ intervention.
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The stage for mobile healthcare development has been set years before the COVID-19 pandemic has limited human interactions. The world’s aging population requiring incessant health monitoring, the omnipresence of mobile phones and tablets, the lack of qualified medical personnel, and the growing costs of healthcare services are reasons why mHealth apps are becoming highly relevant. On top of that, the number of people living in the countryside is increasing. These patients are underserved and require a viable alternative to traditional medicine.
Types Of mHealth Applications
According to Reasearch2Guidance.com, the overall number of medical apps listed on App Stores has reached 95,000. About half of these apps are available on a paid basis, and 15% of them are targeted at doctors. On average, popular paid healthcare apps enjoy about 300,000 downloads each day, and the number of daily free mHealth app downloads exceeds 5 million.
So what types of mHealth apps are currently available in the app markets? All in all, there are 8 popular app categories:
1. Health monitoring apps: These may require the use of health sensors that collect patient’s metrics such as body temperature, pulse rate, blood pressure, etc. Such apps may be used for both self-monitoring and reporting the patient’s metrics to physicians.
2. Apps for laboratory testing: These apps help patients obtain and manage lab test results. On the doctor’s side, these apps may offer physicians quick reference on the meaning of lab test metrics and facilitate interactions with patients.
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3. Fitness apps: This app category offers users a fitness routine and supervises its fulfillment. The best apps enable users to input their age, weight, and desired goals, and suggest exercises to help them to reach these parameters.
4. Wellness apps: This is a broad app category that includes diet and nutrition tips, as well as advice on psychological and emotional wellbeing. Pregnancy, breastfeeding, and women’s health apps, mindfulness and meditation apps, etc., also fall into this category.
5. Pharmacy apps: Pharmacy workers need apps for learning new skills and inventory management. Customers, on the other hand, need tools that could help them find the best non-prescription treatment for their ailments and choose the best price for their meds.
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6. Drug intake control apps: These apps remind patients to take prescribed medications and monitor drug intake. Some apps also notify relatives about the patient’s state and whether or nor the patient is adhering to the prescribed health routine.
7. Apps for people suffering from a particular disease: As the number of people suffering from chronic diseases grows, these apps are in high demand. There are apps that offer support and advice on oncology, cardiovascular, and other disease management.
8. Apps for remote interactions with doctors and clinics: Telemedicine apps are especially useful during the pandemic, and in far-off regions with limited access to healthcare. Such apps help patients locate available healthcare professionals that match the predefined search parameters such as location, specialty, and whether or not they accept their insurance type.
Read also: 5 Things To Consider When Building A Telemedicine App
Trends in Mobile Healthcare App Development
The general trend is towards the increasing popularity of mHealth applications, especially in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Some app categories, though, are gaining wider popularity. Here are some of the app types, which are likely to stay in high demand in 2020 and beyond.
1. Contact Tracing
In the midst of the pandemic, contact tracing apps help customers identify whether or not they run the risk of contracting the disease. Specifically, such apps help identify if any of the user’s contacts have been contaminated. For example, the officials of India and Singapore have authorized the development of apps that notify users when a person infected with COVID-19 is nearby and helps them find safer pathways.
2. Doctor-on-demand apps
Telemedicine is a growing trend, as we have already explored in our previous blog posts. Doctor-on-demand app benefits include access to a broader range of healthcare professionals, saving travel time, and achieving better work-life balance. Because of the COVID-19 lockdown and the probability that it will be reinstated, doctor-on-demand apps are here to stay and have high financial potential.
3. Cost-savings apps
The doctor’s services aren’t cheap. For some patients’ categories, they aren’t even close to affordable. Understandably, apps that help people get easier and cheaper access to healthcare services and manage expenses are enjoying increasing popularity.
4. mHealth apps for doctors
Even though most of the mHealth apps are still targeted at patients, the demand for apps aimed at doctors is also starting to grow. Doctors need assistance in managing appointments, running remote consultations, storing, and sharing medical records, accessing medical reference, and professional training. They also need to build their practice and use promotion tools. As such, the proliferation of telemedicine apps is driven, in part, by doctors’ demand.
In the future, mobile technology will continue to make healthcare services more convenient, affordable, and accessible. Surely, the first companies to tap into the most promising mHealth niches will have the upper hand.
At VARTEQ we have extensive expertise in building solutions for healthcare, as well as state-of-the-art mobile app development. Have a mHealth app idea that you want to bring to life? Talk to us now for a free consultation!