Best Health and Fitness Apps 2015
Early evidence shows that healthcare apps (mHealth apps) improve health outcomes and help manage costs. With the increased push for patients to become more actively engaged in managing their own healthcare, it is not surprising that the number of mHealth apps has more than doubled in just the past two years.
There are more than 165,000 health and wellness apps available for download in the App Store and Google Play. Of those, just 36 apps account for nearly 50% of all app downloads, according to an IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics study.
The 2015 study reviewed apps from both Apple iOS and Google app platforms, and selected 26,864 to represent the most widely used mHealth apps by consumers. What they found:
- mHealth apps can be divided into two main categories: those that focus on overall wellness such as exercise and diet, and those which specifically focus on disease management.
- Consumer wellness apps – fitness, lifestyle & stress and diet & nutrition – make up 2/3 of the mHealth app space.
- Disease and treatment management make up approximately a 25% of mHealth apps
With all those apps, it can be impossible to decide which one works best (which may also be the reason the study found that the average consumer downloads up to 5 mhealth apps). So let’s keep it simple:
Top mHealth Apps
Exercise & Fitness
- GPS-enabled fitness activity tracking
- Wireless device capability
- GPS-enabled fitness activity tracking
- Food log
- Wireless device and smart-scale capability
- GPS-enabled fitness activity tracking
- Wireless device capability
- One of the most downloaded apps
Diet & Nutrition
- Food log with barcode scanning capability
- Wireless device capability
- Food log with barcode scanning capability
- Wireless fitness activity log from compatible devices
- Food log with barcode scanning capability
- Tracks body measurements including blood pressure, blood glucose, etc.
- Endorsed by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
Drugs & Medications
- Medication reminder
- Managed health conditions
- Links to local pharmacy
Disease Specific
- Log food intake
- Calculate insulin blouses
- FDA-approved to manage Type-1 Diabetes
- Manage diabetes; food database log; upload blood glucose reading from 40+ meters; syncs with fitness tracker apps
- Works with AliveCor ECG to wirelessly records ECG and communicates it to the physician
- FDA-approved to manage Atrial Fibrulation
- The propeller sensor is compatible with most inhalers, records time and location each time the inhaler is used and wirelessly sends data to the smartphone app.
- FDA-approved for COPD and Asthma
What’s Next?
Getting Connected
There are two methods by which health data can be recorded: through manual or active user input or through automatic, passive upload. Right now, one in ten mHealth apps can link to a sensor or wearable device, but as innovation around the use of devices to support the improvement of health, whether it be fitness, stress reduction or monitoring chronic diseases, continues to grow, we can be sure to see that number increase.
App Rx
Physicians remain hesitant to recommend mhealth apps in a truly prescriptive manner, largely due to lack of clinical evidence of improved care and questionable accuracy. At the time of the study, about 1/3 or respondents said they have recommended an app to a patient as a part of a treatment plan. This number will grow as oversight and accuracy catches up with innovation. Recently, Vitality Institute, the University of California San Diego, Microsoft and others came together to develop a set of guidelines around the accuracy and usability of health data apps.
What do you think?
Do you use any mHealth apps on this list? Are there some you think belong here? Tell us in the comments!
December 7th, 2015 at 12:17 pm
There is an App called Doctor Virtual Practice for Medical professionals. https://www.needstreet.com/doctor-virtual-practice-mobile-app-download
It works on both android and iOS platform.