12 things to know about the rise of mHealth

There are more than 165,000 mHealth apps available to consumers, according to the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics Patient Adoption of mHealth report.

The number of iOS apps alone has increased more than 100 percent over the past two years. Here are 12 things to know about the increasing use of mHealth.

1. The most common categories of mHealth apps in 2015 include:

•    Fitness: 36 percent
•    Lifestyle and stress: 17 percent
•    Diet and nutrition: 12 percent
•    Disease-specific: 9 percent
•    Women's health and pregnancy: 7 percent
•    Medication reminders and information: 6 percent
•    Healthcare providers/insurance: 2 percent
•    Other: 11 percent

2. More than half of mHealth apps in 2015 have a single functionality. The most common functionality is to provide information.

3. One in 10 mHealth apps has the ability to link to a device. The majority of these apps are fitness apps, but disease-specific apps are also demonstrating increased connectivity.

4. Of the 282 wearable devices assessed in the study, 15 percent have FDA clearance. Just 5 percent of fitness trackers are FDA-cleared, while 75 percent of ECG monitors and 100 percent of blood glucometers are FDA-cleared.

5. There are a wide variety of wearable devices, designed for nearly every part of the body. Here are where wearable apps are used on the body:

•    Wrist: 55 percent
•    Chest: 23 percent
•    Purse/pocket/shoe: 17 percent
•    Arm: 8 percent
•    Head: 7 percent
•    Clothing: 6 percent
•    Leg: 5 percent
•    Ear: 5 percent
•    Ankle: 3 percent
•    Neck: 3 percent
•    Finger: 1 percent

6. mHealth apps are not only increasingly connected to devices, but also reaching out to social networks. In 2013, just 26 percent of mHealth apps could connect to a social network, but that has increased to 34 percent of mHealth apps in 2015.

7. The majority of mHealth apps (84 percent) are free without in-app purchase, while 6 percent are free with in-app purchase. Just 10 percent of mHealth apps are paid adds without in-app purchase.

8. The average cost of a mHealth app is $2.

9. Consumer interest is growing in mHealth, but so is physician interest. Here are the top types of mHealth apps prescribed by providers:

•    Diet: 30 percent
•    Fitness: 30 percent
•    Smoking: 9 percent
•    Mental health: 9 percent
•    Medication: 2 percent
•    Respiratory: 2 percent
•    Diabetes: 1 percent
•    Other: 2 percent

10. Clinical trials of mHealth apps are also on the rise, increasing from 135 two years ago to 300 in 2015. The sponsors of these clinical trials include:

•    Institutions: 75 percent
•    Industry: 8 percent
•    Federal government: 5 percent
•    Others: 12 percent

11. The top types of mHealth app clinical trials include:

•    Mental health: 19 percent
•    Diabetes: 14 percent
•    Cardiovascular: 8 percent
•    Weight management: 8 percent
•    Oncology: 7 percent
•    Smoking cessation: 5 percent
•    Alcohol and drug use: 5 percent
•    Respiratory: 4 percent
•    Sedentary conditions: 4 percent
•    Pain: 3 percent
•    Gynecology: 3 percent
•    Other: 20 percent

12. The top barriers to mHealth app adoption and physician prescription, according to the report, include:

•    Lack of evidence
•    Limited systematic integration
•    Patient access gaps
•    Data privacy and security
•    Reimbursement challenges

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