IMS Health Study: Patient Options Expand as Mobile Healthcare Apps Address Wellness and Chronic Disease Treatment Needs
17 September 2015 - 10:00PM
Business Wire
- More than 165,000 mHealth Apps
Available
- Connectivity to Sensors and
Wearables Drive Use
- Retention Rates Higher When
Physicians Prescribe Apps
The number of mobile health applications available to consumers
now surpasses 165,000, as developers incorporate innovative data
collection features linked to sensors and wearables, according to a
new report released today by the IMS Institute for Healthcare
Informatics. While most available apps focus on overall wellness,
healthcare systems and professionals are expressing greater
interest and excitement in broader app use as barriers to
mainstream adoption of mHealth are removed—especially in the area
of chronic disease management.
The IMS Institute study found that one in ten apps now has the
capability to connect to a device or sensor, providing biofeedback
and physiological function data from the patient and greatly
extending the accuracy and convenience of data collection. Nearly a
quarter of consumer apps are now focused on disease and treatment
management, while two-thirds target fitness and wellness. The
number and variety of mHealth apps present an overwhelming set of
options for consumers, resulting in 40 percent of apps having fewer
than 5,000 downloads.
The study, Patient Adoption of mHealth: Use, Evidence and
Remaining Barriers to Mainstream Acceptance, extends the IMS
Institute’s examination of consumer-focused mobile apps in the
health system conducted in 2013. Researchers drew on IMS Health’s
proprietary AppScript Score database and analysis of 26,864 apps
available in the U.S. Apple iTunes and Android app stores—a
representative sample of the most widely used mHealth apps by
consumers. As part of the study, the IMS Institute also conducted
structured interviews with health- and technology-focused thought
leaders and executives on the role and status of healthcare
apps.
“While much progress has been made over the past two years,
mHealth apps are still far from being a fully integrated component
of healthcare delivery,” said Murray Aitken, executive director of
the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics. “Healthcare providers
are actively addressing the remaining barriers. These include
developing and adopting trusted platforms for ongoing apps curation
and evaluation, creating practical reimbursement models and
ensuring true interoperability within and across healthcare
systems.”
The report’s key findings include the following:
- App connectivity becomes a major
focus for developers. In addition to improved user data
collection capability, during the past two years the percentage of
mHealth apps with the capability to connect to social networks
increased from 26 percent to 34 percent, underscoring the
importance of social networking in consumer engagement. Less
progress has been made in enabling apps to connect and communicate
with provider healthcare systems—a fundamental requirement for
mHealth to realize its full value in healthcare management.
- Overwhelming choice without guidance
limits usefulness of healthcare apps. The total number of
available mHealth apps is growing rapidly, including a 106 percent
increase in the number of health-related Apple iOS apps since 2013.
This can present an intimidating number of choices for consumers,
leading some to simply select the most popular app and others to
try multiple apps in an effort to determine what is best for them.
The study found that just 12 percent of mHealth apps account for
more than 90 percent of all consumer downloads, with nearly half of
all downloads generated by just 36 apps. Physicians also struggle
with the number of apps available and the limited mechanisms for
assessing accuracy, efficacy and appropriateness for their
patients. Platforms for rating, evaluating and, in some cases,
certifying apps are becoming available to providers—enabling them
to more confidently prescribe apps as part of disease prevention
and treatment protocols. Moreover, 30-day retention rates for
mHealth apps prescribed by a healthcare professional are 10 percent
higher than those self-selected by patients. For prescribed fitness
apps, the retention rate is 30 percent higher.
- A growing movement is underway to
build evidence supporting the value of mHealth apps. The
majority of research studies to date focus on app usage rather than
their effectiveness in improving patient outcomes or lowering
healthcare costs. However, momentum is building for observational
studies and randomized clinical trials that will yield evidence to
support the value of apps, specifically in the areas of type II
diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity and mental health. The
number of clinical trials using mobile apps has more than
doubled in the past two years, rising from 135 to 300. The majority
of trials underway are interventional, underscoring the importance
of providing rigorous study results to physicians in need of
evidence that supports integration of apps in their treatment
protocols. Demand has increased for larger clinical trials in an
effort to better examine sub-populations of app users. Of the large
mHealth app clinical trials that recruit patients, 53 percent are
directed at the senior population—a key demographic that requires
healthcare management and is targeted for increased app
utilization.
- Providers agree that the value
mHealth apps can deliver is high, but barriers to full adoption
remain. Among healthcare providers interviewed by the IMS
Institute, most are confident that mHealth can improve overall
outcomes, reduce the cost of healthcare and encourage patients to
take a more active role in improving their health. Providers
emphasized that mHealth data integrated with electronic healthcare
records is critical to better clinical decision making and patient
communication. With the universal enthusiasm expressed for mHealth,
providers urged stakeholders to actively address remaining
barriers, including: limited connectivity and integration into
workflow systems; a slow paradigm shift in reimbursement processes
and delivery of care; data confidentiality, privacy, security and
regulatory uncertainties; lack of scientific evidence to measure
the efficacy of apps; and the inability to reach the most
vulnerable cohorts of patients—mainly the elderly or non-English
speaking.
The full report, including a detailed description of the
methodology, is available at www.theimsinstitute.org. It can also
be downloaded as an app via iTunes at
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ims-institute/id625347542. The
study was produced independently as a public service, without
industry or government funding.
About the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics
The IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics provides key policy
setters and decision makers in the global health sector with unique
and transformational insights into healthcare dynamics derived from
granular analysis of information. It is a research-driven entity
with a worldwide reach that collaborates with external healthcare
experts from across academia and the public and private sectors to
objectively apply IMS Health’s proprietary global information and
analytical assets. More information about the IMS Institute can be
found at: http://www.theimsinstitute.org.
About AppScript
AppScript™ is the leading discovery and distribution platform
for mobile health technologies. The AppScript team has curated and
characterized thousands of mobile healthcare apps, hundreds of
connected devices, and millions of pieces of educational content by
condition and stage of the patient journey. Each mobile health
technology is assessed using the company’s proprietary IMS Health
AppScript Score, which ranks apps and devices based on six primary
metrics: functionality, professional reviews, patient reviews,
endorsements, developer trust ratings and clinical ratings.
AppScript enables any healthcare professional to securely
prescribe, track and reconcile mobile health content prescribed to
patients and caregivers. Learn more at
http://www.appscript.net.
About IMS Health
IMS Health is a leading global information and technology
services company providing clients in the healthcare industry with
comprehensive solutions to measure and improve their performance.
End-to-end proprietary applications and configurable solutions
connect 10+ petabytes of complex healthcare data through the IMS
OneTM cloud platform, providing comprehensive insights into
diseases, treatments, costs and outcomes. The company’s 15,000
employees blend global consistency and local market knowledge
across 100 countries to help clients run their operations more
efficiently. Customers include pharmaceutical, consumer health and
medical device manufacturers and distributors, providers, payers,
government agencies, policymakers, researchers and the financial
community.
As a global leader in protecting individual patient privacy, IMS
Health uses anonymous healthcare data to deliver critical,
real-world disease and treatment insights. These insights help
biotech and pharmaceutical companies, medical researchers,
government agencies, payers and other healthcare stakeholders to
identify unmet treatment needs and understand the effectiveness and
value of pharmaceutical products in improving overall health
outcomes.
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IMS HealthTor Constantino,
+1-484-567-6732tconstantino@us.imshealth.com
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