Doctor Says mHealth Apps ‘Useless'

By Katie Wike, contributing writer

An expert in eHealth systems makes a bold statement, calling mHealth apps useless without their creators gaining greater medical knowledge.

Australian eHealth expert George Margelis, of the University of Western Sydney, recently expressed his disappointment with mHealth apps to The Sydney Morning Herald.

“The health app world is still very immature, despite the plethora of apps out there,” Dr. Margelis said. “To date they have been focused on low-lying fruit such as fitness tracking and not focused on the big issues of management of disease which consumes the bulk of the cost of the healthcare system and resources. It is also the area that affects people most.

“Unfortunately, managing these diseases, in particular the chronic diseases that are a major part of the current burden, requires more than just tracking a few physical parameters which is what the app world is up to.”

Margelis explains that in order to create useful apps, designers must have a background in the medical field or at least some knowledge of the area they intend to design an app. He believes that app quality won’t improve until developers understand what solutions are needed.

“There is a strong need for better education of developers and healthcare professionals on developing models of care that utilize the technology effectively,” Margelis said. “We need better education for healthcare professionals in particular on the basics of eHealth technology and a way for them to get more actively involved in app design and implementation.”

FierceMobileHealthcare reports that similar views have been expressed recently by Trevor Strome, a Canadian-based healthcare analytics specialist. “By understanding the requirements, developers will have a better chance of including all the necessary functions and information that will make the app a useful asset,” he says.