This post has been updated with comments from Markus Pohl of Research2Guidance
A new survey from Research2Guidance exploring digital health app trends in North America and Europe noted that respondents believe health insurers will unseat app stores such as Google Play and Apple.
Over the course of the last year, nearly all app distribution channels have disappointed and thus have been devaluated by mHealth app publishers, except one: health insurance.
It’s important to note that the thinking among the 2,400 participants who include app owners and managers, coders, project managers, physicians and health startups has changed often since 2010. Seven years ago survey respondents said “hospitals” and “physicians” would be the most important future distribution channels, but they have lost a lot of their luster as have “healthcare webpages” and “pharmacies”, the report noted.
Asked if he had any thoughts on why respondents have answered differently each year, Markus Pohl of Research2Guidance said in an email that the answers reflect a “journey of failed hopes”.
“We have been asking exactly the same question since 2010 and the curves show a very clear downward trend. Seven years ago, app publishers were much more bullish / positive about nearly every app distribution channel. Over the years, none of these channels delivered. The curves for each channel are declining accordingly every year more and more.”
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
So why is there so much bullishness over insurers from this crowd?
“I have three explanations for that,” Pohl said:
1) The time frame for insurers is still too short to disappoint app publishers.2) Some insurers pay good money to mHealth app publishers. This money might account for a lot of other positive connotations.3) mHealth app publishers are [having a] good experience in distributing their apps with partners who have an outreach into their target groups (e.g. health associations). Insurers as well are having a huge outreach. So app publishers might conclude that what’s working today will be working as well in 5 years time.
Even if the survey results differ each year, indicating how uncertain respondents are about the future of health app distribution, it’s interesting to consider health insurers as the largest app distributors in the future.
Aetna is probably the highest profile example of this. The insurer has been in talks with Apple to develop apps for the 500,000+ smartwatches it is providing to members. Many health insurers have invested in mobile health app companies. Earlier this year Cigna led a $50 million investment round for Omada Health. Last year, BlueCross BlueShield was the most active investor in digital health startups among payers, followed by Kaiser Permanente Ventures.
Apps that connect patients to doctors dominated health apps in 2017, accounting for 30 percent of market participants. This proved to be the most popular category for telehealth companies. Pharma companies made medication management a priority followed by diabetes management but hospitals made apps to improve efficiency in their facilities their main priority. Insurers focused on health and wellness apps more than other developer categories.
Of all the categories of app developers, non-healthcare companies including technology vendors, consulting and researchers, and agencies accounted for 23 percent of the digital health market, second only to mobile health vendors with 28 percent.
Google Play Store has 158,000 health apps – a 50 percent increase over last year, the report noted. Apple health apps increased by 20 percent to roughly 150,000.
Photo: AdrianHillman, Getty Images
