Only 16% of healthcare professionals currently use mobile applicationswith their patients, but 46% plan to do so in the next five years, according to a 2015 survey of 500 professionals by Research Now, a Plano, Texas-based market research firm. Even so, 86% of the professionals surveyed said they believe mobile apps will increase their knowledge of their patients’ conditions, while 46% said the apps will improve their relationships with patients.

Research Now also surveyed consumers who use medical apps and found that 96% said they believe the devices help them improve the quality of their lives. Sixty percent use them to monitor their activity and their workouts, 49% to count their calories and 42% to monitor weight loss.

“I have patients asking me all the time about health-related apps,” said Dr. Mike Sevilla, a family physician who belongs to a six-physician group practice in Salem, Ohio. “It’s really a great way for me to talk to my patients and make them accountable” for managing their own health.

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20151128/MAGAZINE/311289981

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Connie’s comments: Consumers will define the future of mobile health application. The apps should benefit the communities and demographics they serve. The app should facilitate communication and delivery of health care. It should not be used as a diagnosis but as monitoring and patient-centered tool.