Mobile Health Apps Flooding Unregulated Market, Is That A Good Thing?

By John Oncea, Editor

By John Oncea, editor, Healthcare Technology Online

Over 31,000 health, fitness, and medical apps are on the market with no government oversight or vetting by private companies

HealthLeaders Media reported early this year “the healthcare app industry is a boomtown generating hundreds of new apps each month with most designed for use on mobile devices.” It also quotes Mark Anderson, CEO of healthcare IT consulting firm The AC Group, as saying “There are hundreds of apps that really work and are completely legitimate. But there are also a lot of apps manufactured by snake oil salesmen who promote them with a lot of misleading information.” Despite the uncertainty as to the validity of any particular app, recent surveys indicate physicians see real value in them.