Smartphone users now think of their device not just as a means of communication, but a method of staying healthy. According to ITProPortal, the wellness mobile application market grew by 61 percent in 2018 and, thanks to these apps, users can lose weight, read their blood pressure, and perform other health tasks in a fast and flexible manner.
It’s no surprise, then, that insurance and health services providers like Cigna, CVS Health, and United HealthCare, have rolled out their own mobile apps. Users may be able to make appointments, order prescriptions, and access medical records, saving them unnecessary trips to the pharmacy or faraway clinics.
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Sanket Shah Sanket Shah is an instructor for the University of Illinois at Chicago's " online Master of Science in Health Informatics and Health Information Management . Professor Shah has created a course curriculum focusing on healthcare business intelligence, healthcare data, knowledge management and consumer informatics.
While some can focus on the convenience of these apps, others may point to their supposed drawbacks, citing prophecies about the inevitable harms of mass data collection.
Yes, there are inherent risks when gathering and storing data from health apps, just as there are potential threats that have risen from previous mass collections of information, both within and beyond the healthcare system. But most of these negative predictions regarding data mining aren’t that terrifying, nor entirely realistic.
Here’s what users can reasonably expect as mobile healthcare apps grow and evolve.
Data will be collected from the moment a user signs up for the app
In a hypothetical scenario, a smartphone owner downloads their health insurance provider’s mobile app and uses it to order a prescription refill. The user might believe that this is the first moment that the provider will mine the app for their health data, which could include the prescription itself, the credit card used to order it, or the address where it will be delivered.
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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.
But before that order is placed and completed, the user’s health info was collected the moment they signed up for the app itself. All the data that the health insurance provider has about the user is now fully integrated with whatever other tasks they complete or info they may input in the app. Even if the person never touches the app again, their non-usage is still worthwhile data for the insurer to collect.
This integration may sound eerie and ominous, but it is not a drawback to users. More faults arise in healthcare due to information being out-of-sync than it being overly holistic. At the end of the day, more integration only leads to better health outcomes.
Data will likely not be compromised or fall into the wrong hands
This isn’t to suggest that data breaches aren’t real or that the effects of one are not debilitating- but mass data breaches happen with far less frequency than one might believe.
For users of mobile healthcare apps, the possibility exists that hackers could target the data collected through these applications, leading to negative outcomes such as individuals having their identities or health records compromised. These apps, as well as the data that is collected itself, are still carefully safeguarded through a robust cybersecurity system, consisting of multiple layers of protections and protocols to keep that data safe.
One could argue that those digital protective measures are less for the users and more for the health insurance companies who also benefit from the data. Regardless of motive or whoever reaps the most value from the information, one thing is certain: the attempt is to keep the data as safe as possible.
Apps will change and evolve, and some will even die out
The emergence and rising popularity of health and wellness apps has generated convenience for users and sparked competitiveness between providers. It is entirely feasible that the allure or convenience of one mobile app may be the reason an individual switches from one insurance provider to another.
Competition between businesses in a given industry typically results in two simple outcomes: some products become better, and others do not. Within healthcare, we’ll see some of these apps unveil sleeker designs, stronger user functionality, and an increased volume and reach of services. Other apps will fall behind and become outdated, some even living as an afterthought where insurance providers no longer actively recommend the app, nor are users entirely aware of its existence.
Apps won’t be the factor that causes insurance providers to close up shop. There will not be a headline about Cigna or Kaiser Permanente going out of business because the appointment scheduling function in their mobile apps was not user-friendly enough- but apps will remain a competitive arena where providers can gain a valuable foothold.
Users will save money on healthcare
Apps can display coupons for certain medications, enabling individuals to save money without much effort. Apps can also notify users if there are more affordable methods or alternatives to health services in their area using push notifications that immediately notify the user. If a person is researching potential locations to undergo an MRI, their app might help reveal a location where the service may be offered for hundreds of dollars less from a reputed and credible provider that might be close-by but more expensive.
This isn’t to suggest that there aren’t currently faults within these mobile healthcare apps, or that apps can serve as a cure-all solution to the financial complexities of modern healthcare in the United States. As application functionalities and user bases evolve throughout the future, what remains certain, plain and simple, is that these apps will continue to help people save money on healthcare and health services.
Photo: shylendrahoode, Getty Images
Sanket Shah is an instructor for the University of Illinois at Chicago's " online Master of Science in Health Informatics and Health Information Management . Professor Shah has created a course curriculum focusing on healthcare business intelligence, healthcare data, knowledge management and consumer informatics.
