Today, leading healthy lives is easier than ever, and this process is facilitated by all sorts of modern technologies including iOS and Android applications. The mobile healthcare market in 2022 provides users with a great lot of cool tools aimed at looking after their physical well-being. And these users are a potential source of revenue for app owners.
But to join the market leaders, you have to offer the most up-to-date product, which means you should follow the latest healthcare industry trends. And it’s not enough to know what is in demand right now, you must be ready to apply your knowledge practically. This is the only chance to stand out among the best ones and get your profit.
If you want to know more, read our article where we describe the newest healthcare technology trends. You'll find out what is really popular in 2022 and which ideas you should listen to in order to turn an ordinary mobile program into an innovative healthcare app.
The mobile healthcare industry today
Before discussing the healthcare mobile app trends, let's say a few words about the market itself. We want to convince you that the game is worth the candle - right off the bat, so to say.
According to statistics, the digital healthcare industry is going to gain popularity among all user categories. See for yourself!
And here is another piece of statistical data convincing us to consider healthcare market trends:
That’s rather impressive, don’t you agree? Though, before we proceed to the main point of our discussion, we'd like to share with you some curious facts about the use of mobile apps in healthcare:
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iPhone users consume more health content (62%) than fitness data (58%), while owners of Android devices prefer fitness resources (39%) rather than health-focused ones (30%).
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Users from the UK, Canada, and Australia consume the maximum amount of health and fitness content. This is confirmed by the number of mobile ad impressions of applications belonging to the healthcare technology industry.
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Lack of a developed healthcare system doesn't lead to consuming more medical information: in countries with the smallest number of doctors per capita, only a minor percentage of mobile advertising (up to 5%) is generated by resources dedicated to health.
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Consumption of content about health and fitness usually peaks in the middle of the week and decreases by the weekend.
The above data suggests that the healthcare IT industry is active and in high demand. Moreover, it is constantly evolving, which means you had better keep both eyes open and follow all market innovations, otherwise, there is a risk of lagging behind requirements.
Well, we guess, it's time to talk about digital health trends and discuss mobile healthcare apps in 2022: that is, what they need to take into account in order to succeed.
Let’s get started!
#1. PGHD
PGHD means Patient-Generated Health Data. That is, the first trend in mobile healthcare concerns information the application users are creating themselves:
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treatment history, with all the health details;
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symptoms of the disease;
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data on the healing process;
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personal biometric data;
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habits, lifestyle, etc.
So you understand what it is about? PGHD includes any data characterizing the personal history of a particular user (he is also a patient): the history of his disease and recovery.
By the way, according to forecasts, the number of personalized mobile health solutions will have grown by 30% to exceed $ 25 billion in 2022.
#2. Data protection
In 2022, special attention is going to be focused on the mobile security issue. It’d be true for all areas, and the healthcare market is no exception. Of course, here we're dealing with very intimate patient data which should be well protected. No one wants his personal information of the sort to be lost or used improperly.
Daresay, data protection is a daunting task, and this is clearly one of the healthcare industry challenges. That's why you should carefully select your app developer - the one who is versed in questions of information security.
We should add, as an aside, that new technologies aimed to protect and store data are constantly emerging. Among striking examples are Blockchain, Bitcoin, improved ways to authorize users, etc.
By the by, Blockchain has also become one of the healthcare trends in 2022, which is hardly surprising since it is closely related to data protection. The blockchain allows digitizing various processes, using cryptography, creating unified rules for all network participants, and offers other similar innovative solutions that contribute to enhanced data protection.
In general, blockchain technology is good for making payments, identifying individuals, concluding contracts, and, of course, monitoring your health.
#3. Further implementation of geolocation
Among the latest trends in the healthcare industry, it's necessary to mention the active use of geolocation.
We've already written about geolocation more than once. For example, in one of the articles, we've explained in detail how to create a GPS application and described the cases where the ability to determine the user's location would be extremely helpful.
If we talk about innovative healthcare mobile apps, then geolocation would come in handy in the following cases:
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finding out the address and location of hospitals, pharmacies, and so on;
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getting the chance to make an emergency call (say, if a person is injured and has no idea of his whereabouts);
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reading medical news related to the user's location;
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getting information on emergencies in the vicinity or situations that may be harmful to health (accidents, natural disasters, etc.).
Of course, the list can still be expanded and supplemented with similar examples of using geolocation.
#4. More ways to communicate
Another excellent example of new trends in the healthcare industry is the improvement of communication channels. High-quality feedback from the user is always important, and in the case of medical applications, it's really crucial. The more effective the communication process, the greater the chances of treatment success.
There are the following communication channels for programs working in the IT and healthcare industry:
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Traditional mobile chat allows the patient to communicate online with representatives of a particular medical institution: if they want to get medical advice, for instance, or something of the sort.
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Video chat is a more modern and improved chat option. Users would undoubtedly appreciate the opportunity to communicate with the doctor almost live!
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Chatbot gives users personalized real-time responses and requires no extra maintenance. These and many other advantages make mobile applications with chatbots one of the main technology trends in the healthcare industry in 2022 (not only healthcare, though).
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Booking system. In this case, it means the possibility to make an appointment with a doctor online, at any convenient time, without having to call.
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Emergency calls are the most critical case when the patient needs urgent help from a doctor. In such a situation, the emergency call button (a kind of SOS signal) would come in handy (just like the geolocation feature, by the way).
Recently, more and more innovative ways of communicating through applications have been emerging. According to forecasts, in 2022, speech recognition and reproduction technologies will dominate the digital healthcare industry. The main areas of medicine where voice assistants are going to be applied include elderly care, support for patients with chronic diseases, and so on.
#5. AI, machine learning, and predictive analysis
Of course, development trends in the healthcare app industry couldn’t do without such innovative IT areas as artificial intelligence and machine learning. More by token, the logical continuation of AI and machine learning is the possibility to make a detailed predictive analysis. However, first things first.
AI is a new technology in the healthcare industry, but it has already gained great popularity and proved to be effective. It is predicted that the medical AI solutions market will have broken the $ 1.7 billion barrier in 2022. And the combination of AI with machine learning shows impressive results when it comes to big data analysis.
Both technologies give mobile applications special tools to find logic in incoming information. As a result, apps are able to provide users with personalized unique offers.
A telling illustration of an AI-based mobile service is Lark. It tracks users' physical activity and makes recommendations based on data obtained from the world's leading experts in health and nutrition (also, Lark takes advantage of the user's personal information on his daily routine and eating habits).
But Lark is a fitness application. Speaking of innovative healthcare mobile apps of a more medical type, we should mention the following areas where AI and machine learning would be indispensable: instrumental diagnostics, the development of new drugs, as well as an assessment of the risks for patients with various diseases.
#6. Telemedicine
Also, current trends in the healthcare industry include telehealth apps.
Telemedicine involves the use of computer and telecommunication technologies to exchange medical information. This segment of the healthcare IT industry is one of the fastest-growing - about 120% per year. The volume of the global telemedicine market in 2018 was estimated at $ 25 billion, and by 2025, it is projected to reach $ 113 billion.
The following promising areas of telemedicine are actively developing:
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Medical information systems and means of anonymization of personal data.
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Development of DICOM-compatible blockchain services.
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Simplifying the diagnostic process and automating the formation of subsequent medical conclusions (based on the data obtained).
#7. Wearables
In concluding the list of demanding healthcare mobile app trends, let's discuss the growing popularity of wearable devices.
In 2018, sales of wearable devices declined slightly, but in 2022, the market should return to active growth (as predicted). This makes wearables very attractive for application development.
Types of wearable devices, which would work perfectly well with mobile healthcare apps in 2022 include various sensors allowing you to monitor physical activity and track health parameters. We're talking about breathing and chest movement sensors, three-axis accelerometers, heart rate sensors, and so on.
Future trends in the healthcare industry related to wearables
By the way, the future opens up attractive prospects in terms of wearable devices.
Google, the manufacturer of fitness bracelets Jawbone, as well as other eminent companies, are engaged in the development of "indigestible sensors". These are special capsules designed to examine the user from the inside, in a manner of speaking: a person swallows a capsule, and it remains inside his body for as long as it takes to complete a task (namely, to obtain the most detailed data on the state of health). Some types of these devices can live in the digestive system, others - in the circulatory.
Sensors would be able to determine a variety of parameters: hormone levels, the presence of bacteria, viruses, toxins, markers of various diseases, etc.
Another possible approach is diagnostic studies: instead of undergoing uncomfortable gastroscopy or colonoscopy procedures, the patient swallows a “pill” that, while passing through the body, takes video and photographic images of specific areas. The data of such a procedure can not only be received by the attending physician but also be stored in the users' telehealth apps so that a person gets a chance to monitor his health more carefully.
So we've completed our description of healthcare technology trends; hopefully, our guide was useful to you. And if you already have your mobile medical program, then you can consider our tips and start improving it right away. Otherwise, you should first think about development.
Though, it’s not so easy to create an effective application able to compete successfully with other programs in the healthcare market: app developers have to take into account a lot of things including the digital health trends we’ve talked about so much. That’s why you need to choose a team of developers very carefully.
We offer our services. Agilie company has long been working in the app development market, and our experience allows us to achieve the best results. Thanks to our cooperation, you’ll get an application that would have every chance to join the ranks of strong mobile health app market players and become a stable source of your income.
