If you’re in Healthcare and you’re not working on an App or using an App you may be looked at as being from 1999. All types of entities are providing Apps to “someone,” and sometimes, to anyone without using the appropriate market demographics to identify if the app works! This applies to all stakeholders, including:
- Physician
- Hospital
- Insurance Company
- Clinical Laboratory
- Pharmacy
- Home Health Company
- Pharmaceutical Company
- Health Information Technology Company
- Healthcare IT Vendors
- Patients / Consumer
The usual stake holders are listed above. Sometimes even physicians and patients use the Apps and there questions concerning discernible real world benefits. It’s too early for most applications to show real benefits and outcomes for the vast majority of apps and their respective stake holders, especially patients.
The number of downloads is one “metric” used by vendors, healthcare providers, and other entities to measure success. Downloads say nothing about the “meaningful use” or success of a product offering or App. The ubiquitous stethoscope app is just one example of the weirdness surrounding the “real” functionality of an app. Three Million Doctors Download iPhone Stethoscope App is a link to a company that suggests a large number of downloads by “physicians.” There are only, as of 2010, 850,085 practicing physicians in the United States. There are many stethoscope apps in the Apple Store and the Android store. The number of app downloads is not a function of actual use in the healthcare industry.
The download numbers are an example of a healthcare “App” industry that is looking at the wrong metrics for success in healthcare. There is a more fundamental number which is not being factored into many business plans in cloud based medical application development focused on consumers. There is a wrong assumption that is found in many venture capital and investment presentations made by App developers. Healthcare application developers routinely assume there will always be a smartphone in the hands of an end user with the costliest diseases such as, Diabetes, COPD, Hypertension, and Cardiac Diagnoses.
Patients with the costliest diagnoses are usually older and it cannot be assumed that this population has a smartphone or even knows what to do with a smartphone or iPhone. Pew Research (chart below) conducted a survey in January 2014 which found results that should be strongly considered for elderly patients and their use of smartphones. The Pew study found that smartphone market penetration for people aged 50-64 is approximately 49%, while smartphone use among people over 65 is only 19%.
These numbers are staggering consider the massive venture and angel investment in technologies that are dependent on smartphone penetration in markets that are most likely to have the costliest diagnoses and complicated conditions.New mobile health vendors and astute investors should consider the basic facts about the real meaning in download numbers. But, it is even more significant to know the market penetration of smartphones in the universe of users with the costliest diagnosis codes.
The healthcare industry, particularly vendors and investors that have App excitement needs to focus on the fundamental business demographics which are not based in number of downloads. Furthermore, the patient focused medical App development vendors must acknowledge how there will be market penetration in demographic groups that do not have access to smartphones (iPhone and Android).
The healthcare industry, particularly vendors and investors that have App excitement needs to focus on the fundamental business demographics which are not based in number of downloads. Furthermore, the patient focused medical App development vendors must acknowledge how there will be market penetration in demographic groups that do not have access to smartphones (iPhone and Android).
