IMS Health
is the World’s leading information services company. IMS Health sees enhanced and pervasive role for mobile apps in healthcare system--evolving from the current state of novelty into mainstream.
According to their 2013 study:
“Physicians can see the potential benefits of mobile healthcare apps but remain wary of formally recommending apps to patients without evidence of their benefit, clear professional guidelines regarding their use in practice, and confidence in the security of personal health information that may be generated or transmitted by the app. Payers and employer wellness programs also want clear evidence of benefit before considering reimbursement or promoting the use of apps.
Over time, the app maturity model will see apps progress from being recommended on an ad hoc basis by individual physicians, to systematic use in healthcare, and ultimately to an end goal of being a fully integrated component of healthcare management. There are four key steps to move through on this process: recognition by payers and providers of the role that apps can play in healthcare; security and privacy guidelines and assurances being put in place between providers, patients and app developers; systematic curation and evaluation of apps that can provide both physicians and patients with useful summarized content about apps that can aid decision-making regarding their appropriate use; and integration of apps with other aspects of patient care. Underpinning all of this will be the generation of credible evidence of value derived from the use of apps that will demonstrate the nature and magnitude of behavioral changes or improved health outcomes.
Meeting these preconditions will accelerate the movement of apps use from that of a novelty into the mainstream of healthcare – and realizing their full potential in the years ahead.”
