Several federal government agencies have released an updated "trail guide" that aims to help health app developers understand which privacy laws and regulations apply to their technology.
The Mobile Health Apps Tool was produced by the Federal Trade Commission as well as the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, the Food and Drug Administration and the Office for...
Studies using mobile health applications are hampered by significantly high participant dropout rates, although retention strategies can help maintain participant engagement, according to a study published in JMIR.
The adoption of mobile health (mHealth) apps has been increasing in the research sphere, and researchers have been able to monitor day-to-day fluctuations of a wide range of real-time...
Researchers created a health app rating system aimed at helping clinicians find high- quality tools to recommend to their patients, according to a development study published in JMIR.
The App Rating Inventory, which was built by the Defense Health Agency’s Connected Health branch, scores apps in three categories: evidence, content and customizability. All 28 items in the system are weighted...
Online searches for digital health products in the UK increased by 343% during the first lockdown, according to a new public health study.
Research scientists led by Simon Leigh, head of research at the Organisation for the Review of Health and Care Applications (ORCHA) examined web-based internet searches for digital health products before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The study, published...
A partnership between the Osteopathic Health Centre, Dubai, and ORCHA (the Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Apps), will give citizens and expats based in Dubai access to the Middle East's first digital health library.
This one-year contract, with the option to renew for a further two years, will complement the Centre's existing offer, giving people access to top-rated health apps,...
Consumer-facing health apps are increasingly prevalent, but they’re anything but infallible. According to a recent literature review of published app safety investigations, these offerings have been shown to include issues ranging from poor content or information to faulty functionality.
“Health apps may have significant potential to improve population health,” the study’s authors wrote. “However...
There is a vast array of health apps that we can turn to nowadays, but how many of those are backed by evidence remains unclear. Only in March, a study published in Nature Digital Medicine found that only two out of 73 mental health apps provided evidence from a study associated with their use. And in June, a paper released in the same journal pointed to the lack of standardised measures for the...
Editor's note: This story has been updated to specify that the telehealth app downloads ranked in the report do not necessarily reflect the entirety of those companies' businesses.
Consumers worldwide are downloading and spending money in medical apps more than ever, suggests a market behavior analysis released this week by mobile data and analytics company App Annie.
Global downloads of these...
Xealth, a startup that helps doctors to prescribe digital health apps, announced this morning that it has closed an $11 million in Series A funding round. Backers new to the startup include McKesson Ventures, Novartis, Philips and ResMed, with prior investors Threshold Ventures, Providence Ventures, UPMC and Medical College of Wisconsin Health Network affiliate Froedtert returning as well.
WHAT...
There are scores of mental health related digital tools available on any of the major app stores. However, a recent study published in Nature Digital Medicine found that a majority of the apps studied do not provide evidence or peer-reviewed studies to back up their products.
“Scientific language was the most frequently invoked form of support for use of mental health apps; however, high-quality...
