Article Excerpt: While healthcare providers agree that mobile health apps can reduce healthcare costs and improve patient outcomes, a few barriers to full adoption remain, according to a new report. The number of mobile health apps available to consumers now surpasses 165,000, as developers incorporate innovative data collection features linked to sensors and wearables, according to “Patient Adoption of mHealth: Use, Evidence and Remaining Barriers to Mainstream Acceptance,” a report from the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics.
One in 10 apps now has the capability to connect to a device or sensor, providing patient data on biofeedback and physiological function and greatly extending the accuracy and convenience of data collection. Nearly a quarter of the apps are now focused on disease and treatment management, while two-thirds target fitness and wellness. Despite the growth in mobile health apps, healthcare providers emphasized that use of mHealth data integrated with electronic health records is critical to better clinical decision-making and patient communication, among other barriers.
Full Article: http://tinyurl.com/nb89f6y
Article Source: Modern Medicine