Friday, February 11, 2011

Smartphones as the best business decision in medicine?

Author: Riley Alexander, MD, MBA

So says the most recent edition of Dark Daily. They are basing this assertion off of recent trends and results of a survey by research2guidance that can be found here (note: the white paper is free, but requires registration). The findings claim that the high rate of penetrance of mobile phones in the market and usage of apps will be the driving forces behind the business of mobile health. Surprisingly, 80% of respondents thought that diabetes would be the largest market--perhaps this is just a correlation with the rising prevalence of diabetes. I can't think of why it would make a "better" app market per se. What I wasn't surprised to see was the predominance that iOS and Android have in this space.

Though Dark Daily is primarily a management publication with a pathology focus, it has been very interesting of late to see how many of their articles have focused on the integration of mobile health. They seem to have a keen interest in relaying to pathologists and clinicians, alike, how important this growing medium is.


Coincidentally, I read about this product today. This coagulation app is just another great example of how effective a mobile device can be as a decision support tool.

About the author:

Dr. Riley Alexander is a pathology resident at Indiana University School of Medicine, blog "addict" and avid follower of technology. His primary interests revolve around how technology, especially mobile, will create increased efficiency, enhanced physician education and better delivery of care in the medical field. Dr. Alexander is a graduate of Indiana University School of Medicine with a combined MD/MBA, in partnership with IU's Kelley School of Business. Due to this, he is also very interested in management, healthcare policy and non-clinical aspects of the medical field and enjoys exploring non-clinical opportunities for medical students, residents and physicians. He completed his undergraduate education at IU-Bloomington.

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