Print

In April 2010, the California Healthcare Foundation released a report focusing on the impact of the smartphone (i.e., mobile devices such as the iPhone and the Android) on health and wellness.  The report's author, Jane Sarasohn-Kahn observed that because the adoption rate of smartphones is so significant (42% of Americans owned smartphones as of December 2009) these devices are poised to become the primary way people seek, consume and receive health information in the future.

Source: The California Healthcare Foundation
(Click to enlarge)

Some of the key observations of this report include: 

• 1/3 of Americans use smartphones to access the Internet
• The mobile Internet is less divided than the traditional Web -- African Americans and Hispanics are more likely to use mobile devices
• Mobile health tools are being used to increase adherence to medications
• A "highly activated" group of consumers have begun to use mobile applications to manage their conditions

Although the future is bright for mobile-mediated health, some barriers to increased uptake remain, including:

• Patients are often being left out of the smartphone development continuum
• Smartphone applications do little to push the behavioral buttons that lead to people making changes for the better
• Most applications are being developed by the well-funded and financed industry segments such as pharmaceutical and managed care
• There are no broadly established criteria to judge quality mobile health applications
• Privacy concerns are not well-addressed: Companies like Applie are requiring application makers to build tools that track the location of the user

For more information on mobile health, please see the additional resources section below.