Sales for the mobile medical application market are estimated to be worth $84.1 million in 2010, according to a new report by healthcare market research publisher Kalorama Information.
The "Worldwide Market for Mobile Medical Apps" shows that medical apps are slowly gaining market share, with 2010 revenues expected to more than double compared to 2009 figures. In 2009 the market was worth about $41 million, which translates to about 1.5 percent of the total mobile app market.
Medical apps compete for market share with other very large and popular app categories such as gaming, entertainment, social networking and navigation. But despite the higher price tag for most medical apps – averaging $15 per app – the number of downloads fall short. This keeps medical apps on the lower end of revenues in comparison to other categories, the report said.
The healthcare industry has seen a rapid increase in the use of smartphones, which provide a range of programs, convenience and efficiency that can't be achieved with traditional computers and pocket drug references. In 2004, an estimated 25 percent of practicing physicians in the United States used a PDA or smartphone. This increased to approximately 35 percent to 40 percent in 2008. By 2010, more than 50 percent of physicians are using smartphones or PDAs on a regular basis for everyday treatment activity.
"Not only is the medical community using smartphones and their applications for basic tasks, but they report using them to complete some of the work that would have previously been done on a desktop or laptop computer," said Melissa Elder, an analyst with Kalorama Information and author of the report. "With one of the main focuses in healthcare today centered on the reduction of costs, any tool that can help medical personnel become more efficient is a boon to the industry."
Smartphone applications can be developed for many processes including education, health management, data management and health information. Hundreds of thousands of apps are available for smartphone users – for example, the Apple App Store offers more than 250,000 apps.
The report finds that within specific categories like health management, some smartphone providers offer as many as 2,000 apps. These help monitor heart rates, manage diabetes, record exercise schedules and link with larger computer systems for managing health records.
A survey released by Buck Consultants, a Xerox company, found that the fastest-growing components of wellness programs are technology-driven tools. In three years, employers around the world expect a six-fold increase in their use of mobile technology – such as smartphones – to support employee wellness initiatives.
"The use of smartphones in professional healthcare is still taking shape, but some providers have seen the potential and are taking advantage of the technology," said Elder.