Quick note: As it does every year, the MobiHealthNews-letter will be taking a break for the holidays, but we'll return to regular publishing just after New Year's. This morning's edition will be our last email issue in 2013, but we'll still be posting articles on the site over the next two weeks, too. Happy Holidays from the MobiHealthNews team!
It's already been a busy December. Here are a few standout comments from MobiHealthNews readers in recent weeks, along with a link to the relevant post:
Happtique suspends mobile health app certification program
David: I hope this doesn't end here because this is an important effort. At least Happtique is looking at security. The IMS app report that came out this year with great fanfare lists recommended apps, Medscape picks that report up and recommends those apps to doctors, and I assume those doctors may recommend to patients…and no one along that chain evaluated privacy or security policies and procedures of these apps. It's a disgrace. Who are the companies behind some of these apps that we have never heard of? How do we know this isn't a case like the Flashlight App that was selling data unbeknownst to its customers? I hope to see Happtique fix these oversights and get back to this important task soon.
Why Sharecare’s AskMD launch is important for digital health
Howard: Thanks for pulling together the history behind AskMD and the clinical decision support engine that drives it. PKC never felt the public (consumer or professional) was ready until now. We hope that merging with Jeff [Arnold] and Dr. Oz will put our 20 year effort to bring Larry Weed's ideas to life in the best hands possible. - Howard Pierce, CEO PKC
How mobiles make clinical trials bigger, faster and more efficient
Naveen: I attended this session as well, and one salient nugget I wrote down was Matt [Hendrick]'s opening statistic: In 1950, $1B bought 50 new compounds a year. Now, even after adjusting for inflation, $1B doesn't even buy one. Despite this, he pointed out that at present day, the ROI for a big pharma is still much higher in traditional drug development than it is in tech. That is going to change over the coming years, and he pointed to three recent trends that might serve as indicators of pharma's evolving interest: FDA's mobile guidance, AMA's classing obesity as a disease, and the emergence of unexpected "lifestyle" companies Google, Samsung, ATT, etc. Companies who can provide unique, "new" value will get attention, like WellDoc.
Where are all the mobile health solutions for seniors?
Tyler: I'm with Orlov -- Why does there need to be a Fitbit for seniors specifically? This seems more like a messaging/packaging issue than a product design issue. Though I could certainly see it coming down to interface design (bigger icons, etc.). When I think of the stack of needs seniors have I see solutions that already exist that can be used by anybody, including seniors: Medication adherence/tracking, solved by eg Nightingale; Sharing medical data with caregivers, solved by eg Prime; Finding care providers, solved by eg TenderTree and SugarCare; Travel to/from care, solved by eg Lift Hero (potentially anyway, still beta).
Mayo’s iPad study had 98 percent engagement among seniors
Wayne: Given the obvious benefits, why wouldn't the iPad's cost be bundled into the cost of a $7,000 surgery, and where the patient keeps the device afterwards? On one hand, the medical facility could load their app onto the patient's own device, which could lower costs and allow apps from multiple institutions to coexist on the same device. On the other hand, as device costs come down, they will become like electronic brochures, but rather than being disposed of when no longer needed, the device can be enhanced with new apps to improve compliance and recovery along with overall health and wellness.
