Useful digital health apps and platforms
Krisnah, Head of Research and Innovation Advocacy at Asthma UK, shares why innovators don’t need to start with a blank canvas when looking at developing new asthma apps and platforms.
Latest innovations could improve how asthma is diagnosed and managed
As part of our partnership with the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council to create a £3m+ fund for asthma health technology, we’re keen to see the applications to develop the latest innovations that could improve how asthma is diagnosed and managed. But innovators needn’t start from a blank canvas as there is much to be learned from health technology developed for other conditions, which might be applied to asthma, taking into account the different behaviours and perspectives of people with asthma.
According to ORCHA (1), who conduct independent reviews into health apps there are over 327,000 different health apps available for download.
Health apps generally cover three different categories:
Telemedicine where users can have consultations with a physician remotely.
Health management where users can monitor a health condition with various levels of integration with existing healthcare systems.
Wellness apps where users can track general factors in health such as nutrition, exercise, and sleep.
Digital health platforms and apps
Wellness apps dominate the industry by far, currently, only 40% of apps focus on patient care and of that, only 16% of apps focus on specific conditions (2).
We’ve rounded up some brilliant Digital Health platforms and apps to illustrate how technology can improve the efficiency and accessibility of patient care, and provide inspiration for the next wave of asthma health apps that can transform outcomes:
To find out more you can read the full blog on our website >>
1: ORCHA. Orcha - The Challenge - Getting the Right Apps to the Right People at the Right Time, 2019. Available: https://www.orcha.co.uk/the-challenge/
2: Aitken M, Clancy B , Nass D. The growing value of digital health: evidence and impact on human health and the healthcare system. Inst Rep IQVIA Inst Hum Data Sci. 2017:1–76.
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