Planet of the Apps

“The world has gone app-crazy, or so it seems sometimes. The sheer number of smart phone apps available for download is overwhelming. Unsurprisingly, there are a lot of healthcare apps out there—7,136 in the Apple store alone in August 2010, according to the MobiHealthNews report, ‘The Fastest Growing & Most Successful Health & Medical Apps,’ published in November. That figure has likely eclipsed 10,000 by now.

Adoption and usage by consumers, however, has been far from prolific. According to the report, of the 85% of American adults that use a mobile phone, just 9% have a healthcare app (healthcare meaning either ‘medical’ or ‘health and fitness’).

Physicians, on the other hand, are picking up the slack. Medical Reference apps make up 31% of healthcare apps in the AppStore. Although, admittedly, not all of these are intended for healthcare providers, it is by far the biggest category.

Apps intended solely for physicians represent 26% of all healthcare apps (Fig. 1), illustrating that, for now at least, pharma’s focus is firmly on the professional side. ‘Mobile app spend is mirroring adoption rates, with HCPs showing a significantly stronger rate than patients,’ says Jay Goldman, VP strategy at Klick Pharma. ‘We’re strong believers in fishing where the fish are, and right now the fish are on the physician side of the equation.’

Bill Drummy, CEO of Heartbeat Ideas, offers an explanation. ‘Mobile apps make so much sense for physicians because they integrate so powerfully with their day-to-day needs,’ he says. ‘Apps solve real problems in a clinical setting, particularly on an iPad. It’s as big as a clipboard, fits in an (oversized) lab coat pocket, and offers a richness and utility that’s never been possible before.’”

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Source: MM&M Magazine, The Mobile Guide
Date Published: May 2011