The Need to Improve Collaboration Between mHealth App Publishers and Health Care Professionals
While the mHealth app market is getting crowded, newcomers are still seeing opportunities left to seize. More of the companies behind the apps enter the market without a medical background. Partnership models between app companies and traditional healthcare companies are still underdeveloped. We have a short wish list of what needs to be done in order to more closely link both sides with each other.
Let us take a closer look at some numbers first. The increase in the number of mid-size companies is an encouraging sign of both confidence in and the quest for sustainable growth. The so-called “Garage” companies, which are commonly low cost startups with 1-2 founders, have recovered from a decline in the previous year and currently make up 13 % of the mHealth publisher community. The number will probably not vary too much in the future. Similarly, there is a noticeable 5% increase among medium-sized companies. The majority of companies (61%) in the mHealth app publishing industry are small-sized companies, many of which are still unsatisfied with their goal achievement. For the latter, revenues remain low or modest that is, below USD 100k per year for 79%, which is barely enough to stay afloat. Only 43% claim to have either achieved or exceeded their goals. It is the medium-sized companies in the market which are currently growing in size. With an average of 3-4 years of market experience under their belt, established publishers seek to move beyond innovation towards revenue growth and ideally long-term profitability.
Yet, the mHealth publishing industry overall has not fully abandoned its initial objective, namely to help people to improve their health. This focus may well prove to be a long-term benefit for the industry, because an intrinsic motivation is usually coupled with persistence. As the mHealth App Developer Economics 2016 Report indicates, persistence is all that matters. App publishers which are longer in the market report higher revenues.
Contrary to what one might expect, the majority of mHealth app publishers (51%) do not come from the healthcare industry. While the latter by and large has become aware of the benefits of mobile technology in healthcare, it has not yet overcome its ambivalence towards digitization. But a closer look at the results of the Developer Economics Survey reveals a more complex picture. That mHealth app publishers are predominantly from the IT sector, tech companies or from app developers might explain why the perspectives and interests of these digital natives differ from that of healthcare professionals (HCPs). Although the market and app development has so far not been driven by corporate interests (e.g. Pharma industry, Health insurance companies, hospitals), mHealth publishers certainly value the expertise of HCPs. A considerable percentage of app developers (85%) either consult or collaborate with HCPs.
However, this collaboration and consultative practice seems to weaken; it declined by 11% when compared to 2015. This divergence is cause for concern. The newcomers in the mHealth app market likewise seem to be reluctant to involve more HCPs in the app development process, possibly because they consider it a challenge to win over doctors to use these new technologies. In case publishers do have a background in healthcare, their app development interests are generally geared towards specific medical purposes and institutions. They are typically publishing their apps as a means of connecting their medical devices (20%) or telehealth (18%) to manage health data. Some MDs are not yet ready to recommend apps to their patients either for security and privacy risks or because only a relatively small number of apps have so far received FDA approval. The pharma industry is likewise reluctant to increase the collaboration. The new information channels provided by digital Health, in particular the data platforms, could mean a manifold weakening of control and could challenge the growth prospects of the pharmaceutical industry. Conventional medicine, which is based on the prescription of drugs developed and produced by the pharma industry, may in the digital future of healthcare be only one of several means to disease management and therapy. Rethinking is thus required. With so much at stake, the pharma industry will need to work more closely with HCPs and HICs to determine best treatment options and to be supportive of innovative technologies.
It is worth noting that other institutions such as NGOs, universities, professionals from education & training, and governments, seem to have discovered the significance of digital Health. This shows in a 5% increase of such institutions in the share of app publishers from the previous year to a total of 16%. Similarly, among the newcomers in app developing and publishing 15% presently come from institutions outside the healthcare industry.
Regardless of the many undisputed benefits to mhealth care, the implementation of this digital revolution is still lagging behind the process, especially in Europe. Effective communication among all players involved is key to the success of digital health. So what needs to be done for developers and the industry (Pharma, Health Insurance Providers, Hospitals, and Medical technology companies) to come together and for healthcare professionals to adopt the use of mobile devices and apps? We believe that the following initiatives could be taken to overcome the reluctance among all significant players involved. Here is what we would like to see (wish list):
- mHealth apps should become an integral part of the education and training of healthcare professionals to familiarize them with apps
- Political institutions should set goals, define rules and regulations concerning digital communication including apps for HCPs; they should also determine sanctions for violations
- Partner programs between established healthcare companies and app developers need to be established more widely, creating for both sides an easy way to connect and to find out how best to partner. Those partner models should be based on trust, risk sharing and a true collaboration effort to build something new that can’t be achieved in a five year business case. The ‘pay-per-active-user’ model appears to be an important component of such partner programs
- The healthcare industry needs to gain know-how of the mHealth apps world by using continuous market and competitor monitoring
- National Health Associations should take on the new challenge and help to organize quality assurance and establish hands-on certification programs to achieve the conditions they lobby for
- Guidelines that would enable mHealth app publishers to understand and navigate regulations at an early stage must be issued and be available. On the other hand, one must ensure that publishers are aware of what regulations might impose limitations on the apps they develop
Some countries still have a long way to go to realize these objectives. Yet, local (i.e. national) mHealth decision makers in companies as well as those who serve on regulatory committees must act, or mHealth app publishers might move to countries that offer a more conducive environment for partnerships with the traditional healthcare industry and regulations that are transparent and effective at the same time.
As always, feedback is highly welcomed.
For further insights into the mHealth industry, we invite you to download the free 28-page report from our web site. (DOWNLOAD HERE)
I do agree. I am a cardiologist, I am dealing with smart cardiac rhythm devices and smart BP measurement devices at least for five years. These devices generate, collect and share enormous data. There is no problem with the tecnical aspect. However the data generated mean only increaseed work load for the physician for the time being and hence the ordinary physician does “not care about the devices”. What would the patient or the individual person in the fitness center do with the medical data, without the physicians’ help / comment ? These devices are only “nice to have devices” for the patients for now. These devices should be integrated to our daily medical practice with the apps that are designed according to the medical know-how. These devices are not music devices :) It is the physicians who will help to design softwares that will give these smart devices the most usefull aspect.
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item #3 in your wish list.