The common ground between consumer and medical apps

Donna Cusano

According to David Lee Scher, MD, a cardiologist who is a member of the panel developing Happtique’s certification guidelines, there are over 40,000 apps in the health, wellness and fitness category. While consumer and provider-use apps are significantly different in important ways–regulatory requirements, applications and business models–there are five key similarities between them: all are components of a digital health ecosystem, adoption and success depends on proof of reliability and efficacy, all require sustainable business models, behavior change is the main goal, and ‘data power’ is where it’s at. Health consumer and medical apps: Common threads for success (mHIMSS)