Health Care Trends With a Social Media Twist

Mobile health apps still in their infancy

In the past year, health apps on mobile devices have emerged as more than just a fad with the first ones now getting accepted by the Food and Drug Administration.

Despite being around for a couple of years, recently published data by mobile market consultancy research2guidance, shows that the current market is still in its infancy and that by 2015 30% of the world's smartphone users will be using mobile health products, up from 5% today.

In other published research by Pew Internet Research, 29% of people who download apps to their phone or tablet have already downloaded a health app to "help them track or manage their health". It also found those living in urban areas were more likely to download such an app, but interestingly, 30-49 year-olds are as likely as 18-29 year-olds to download an app as a means to improving their health.

The future of the mobile health app is seemingly a bright one, as both healthcare providers and consumers begin to embrace this technology. Among some of the apps entering the market, is blood pressure monitoring cuffs, CT-scan viewers and pocket ultrasound machines.

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