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Mobile Health & Medical Apps: Possible Impediments to Healthcare Adoption

Authors:
Ceara Treacy
Fergal McCaffery
Anita Finnegan

Keywords: mHealth; mobile medical apps; regulation.

Abstract:
According to the World Health Organization use of mobile, wireless and communication technologies to support healthcare and the achievement of health objectives is known as mHealth. This paper investigates sub-topics of mHealth, mobile health apps (MHAs) and mobile medical apps (MMAs), which have emerged with the increasing prevalence of smart phones and tablets. The number of health related apps available in 2014 is estimated at 100,000. However, various reports highlight details, such as: 40% of health apps are unused after the initial novelty has worn off; people with chronic diseases who need this technology are not using it; and that due to clinicians having issues with quality and trust of such systems they are not confident in using or in recommending to patients. The paper discusses issues for MMAs which are deterring development and innovation within the industry and the adoption of MMAs by the medical field. The discussion includes, the regulatory background, difficulties such as communication and vagueness surrounding the regulatory status of MMAs, time and cost, safety issues and the security and privacy concerns.

Pages: 199 to 202

Copyright: Copyright (c) IARIA, 2015

Publication date: February 22, 2015

Published in: conference

ISSN: 2308-4359

ISBN: 978-1-61208-384-1

Location: Lisbon, Portugal

Dates: from February 22, 2015 to February 27, 2015