The Advantages of Mobile Health
Digital health is playing an increasingly important role in our society. Telemedicine in particular has become progressively more important in the course of the Covid-19 pandemic.
More and more startups are popping up in this area. Many of these digital health providers are web-based, but there are also more and more offerings in the app stores. While the global mHealth app market had revenues of $2.4 billion in 2017, it is expected to reach $11.2 billion by 2025.
In this post, we’ll look at five advantages mobile health apps have to offer over web-based digital health.
- Better accessibility
Let’s start with the most obvious point: digital health apps, compared to web-based solutions, enable 24/7 use, no matter where you are. Many of us have our smartphones with us at all times, unlike computers.
According to statista, “[the] global smartphone penetration rate is estimated to have reached over 78 percent in 2020.” So mobile apps reach a lot of people, even in regions with very poorly developed healthcare systems and long waiting times for doctor’s appointments. - High Convenience
Whether it’s banking, online shopping, dating or grocery shopping — we do almost everything on our mobile phones nowadays. The younger generations in particular hardly use any other devices. And for good reason: simply downloading an app for a problem is easier than searching forever for a solution on the Internet or even offline.
So why should the topic of health be left out of the equation? To keep up with the zeitgeist, healthcare companies must also adopt a mobile orientation. - Data aggregation
Mobile health apps enable better aggregation of (health) data about the individual user. This allows for much better personalization options — which is especially important for personal health. Hardly any topic could be more individual.
On the one hand, this is possible via general usage behavior, but on the other hand also through the … - Connection with other apps
Whether it’s with the health app, wearables, or the health insurance company’s app: linking different health apps can simplify the diagnostic process. It also enables a broader picture of the patient’s health, as well as faster processes — since data is transmitted automatically or does not have to be entered multiple times. - Integration of modern technologies
Smartphones — unlike most other digital devices — now offer a wide range of technological possibilities. Depending on the specific disease focus, various sensors or state-of-the-art camera technology, for example, can play an important role. At SQIN, for example, we have the ability to train our AI using simple mobile phone photos.
Of course, this development also has a few downsides. For example, if there are too many applications in the same field, people get confused if there is no clear value proposition. Nevertheless, we find that the opportunities offered by mHealth outweigh the risks.
We are curious to see in which areas further advantages for mobile health will become apparent in the future.
