Mobile medical apps : empirical findings on the B2B and B2C e-health industry

The number and variety of mobile medical apps increased in the last years. Although more than 43,000 mobile medical apps are available in app stores, for many doctors and patients the use and importance of these apps still is elusive and their success difficult to evaluate. This contribution reveals empirical findings on mobile medical apps deduced from 52 in-depth interviews with doctors and a survey among patients. As location- and time-independent information platforms, medical apps provide high value for doctors regarding data collection, prevention, medical checks and health status monitoring, and for medication. Patients appreciate apps to monitor health or therapy status, to remind medication and to increase therapy motivation. Moreover, medical apps reduce the number of consultations and they positively influence physician-patient relationships. Surprisingly, a minority of respondents has privacy concerns and their trustworthiness in private software providers is high. Finally, the findings show high potential of apps for health checks and self-diagnosis