Health care apps for consumers

With over 40,000 healthcare apps available for consumers, and very little oversight of app development, it can be hard for providers to know how a particular app is going to help – or hinder – a person’s health. This is especially true for apps that are marketed as replacements for medical equipment – for example, those that claim to take your blood pressure.

In a review of health and medical apps, the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics found that only about 10,000 provided information; less than half of those also provided instruction, and only 20 percent captured user-entered data. The authors concluded that with no objective assessment of the utility and value of healthcare apps, “patients and physicians must navigate a maze of apps with little guidance.”1

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released much-debated guidelines in 2013 to help mobile app developers determine whether their product would require oversight. The FDA guidance on mobile health technology does not scrutinize all health apps—just ones used as accessories for a regulated medical device or those that transform a mobile platform into a regulated medical device. As of July 2014, the FDA had reviewed about 100 health apps, while hundreds of apps continue to appear on the Apple iTunes store and Google Play store each month, potentially without federal regulation.

How should providers evaluate the effectiveness and safety of healthcare apps designed for patients? There is no easy answer. When it comes to healthcare apps, organizations should consider whether the app contributes significantly to the practice’s efficiency and outcomes. Other mobile technology, such as secure texting or virtual check-ups, may be more likely to reduce the need for office visits, procedures and hospitalizations.