Doctors, not app stores, to distribute mHealth apps by 2015

By siliconindia   |   Thursday, 25 November 2010, 09:33 IST
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Berlin: In the years to come, mobile health (mHealth) applications will cease to be distributed primarily through the app stores. According to a global survey by research2guidance, a Berlin-based market research company specialized in the mobile industry, traditional healthcare distribution channels like hospitals and specialized healthcare product vendors will replace app stores as the distribution channels of choice for mHealth apps by 2015. Since the smartphone app store model has been the key driver behind the initial success of mHealth applications over the last two years, this shift would turn out to be a significant one. Almost 53 percent of the respondents of the survey believe that the app stores are the best distribution channels currently, while 49 percent of them think that they are followed by healthcare websites. Traditional health distribution channels like doctors (34 percent), hospitals (31 percent) and pharmacies (16 percent) are ranked as second and third tier distribution channels today. According to the survey participants, in five year's time, hospitals (68 percent), doctors (65 percent) and traditional healthcare websites (56 percent) will become the main platforms on which to sell mHealth solutions.