Few of the folks who champion digital health would make a case for apps as the be all end all solution to prevent the kind of complications that send healthcare costs into orbit. But as a JAMA article highlights, the benefits of many of the apps aimed at chronic conditions, such as diabetes, have limits.
But finding out where those limits lay is a challenging prospect. The app developers willing to go through the heavy lifting of submitting their applications to scientific study are the companies that stand to not only benefit but also raise the bar of effectiveness.
WellDoc is singled out for special mention for its clinician and patient facing apps centered on managing diabetes. Dr Suzanne Clough, who founded the company, wanted to create a round the clock diabetes management support to help patients avoid the costly complications that can occur when patients stray from their care plan. She spent 10 years developing what became WellDoc’s BlueStar mobile app for patients with type 2 diabetes. It analyzes trends in patient-entered data on blood glucose level, carbohydrate consumption, medication use, and other information to provide real-time coaching for the patient. Patients can then securely share the data with their physician through a web portal.
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What also sets WellDoc apart is that it secured FDA clearance for its apps to instill enough confidence in the apps so that physicians would be more likely to prescribe or recommend it.
The JAMA article cites an IMS Health report published a couple of years ago to give a sense of just how many mobile health apps are available in the market. That’s eons in technology time Sure enough, the report said 600 diabetes-related apps on the market in 2013 grew to 969 apps the following year. The review concluded that apps have promise, but more work is needed to prove their effectiveness, educate consumers about their safety and usefulness, and integrate them into the health care delivery system.
“There are tons and tons of apps and very little in the way of guidance for physicians or consumers on how to separate the wheat from the chaff,” said Dr. Aaron Kesselheim, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Joyce Lee, an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Michigan Medical School, noted that patient reviews could give physicians a better understanding of the apps patients find useful. She also suggested physicians check out these reviews to get a better sense of what some patients find helpful ad cites DiabetesMine. It collects video patient reviews that explain how specific apps work and whether the patient or caregiver finds it useful.
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The report comes as groups like IMS Health and SocialWellth, which acquired Happtique, and others are demonstrating an interest in aggregating reviews that reflect user experience.
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