More and more users are turning to mobile health apps for assistance, which provide healthcare anywhere, anytime and often for free. The use of health-focused apps doubled between 2013 and 2015, according to HRI, and continued to experience exponential growth.

Fitness trackers have been around for several years, but now, connected devices perform more complicated and vital functions, such tracking the user’s glucose level or making EKG scans. One more detail that facilitates the adoption of health apps is their ability to connect an end user with medical professionals in order to receive personalized help from experts.

There are several mHealth trends that change the way healthcare works, looks, and feels:

1. Deep Learning and AI: Healthcare is one of the industries that benefit the most from artificial intelligence opportunities. Technology can replace many aspects of healthcare delivery, incluidng automatic analysis of medical image and efficient data processing, which can make care cheaper and affordable. IBM and Google DeepMind has made strides into healthcare AI, creating a data-tracking app and a cognitive learning platform that helps physicians with the process of diagnosis.
2. Personalization of Digital Healthcare: Health apps, together with wearables, can evaluate the health status of a patient, perform specific analysis, and develop a customized treatment plan based on data received. Perspectives are truly amazing: from designing and 3D printing a personalized limb, to treating a rare medical condition with the help of specialized app.
3. Internet of Things: As stated earlier, fitness trackers were just the beginning. Connected health devices include blood pressure monitors, neurological monitors, glucose meters, sleep trackers, and many more. Together with mobile apps, medical devices can form a new connected healthcare sphere.
4. VR: It’s difficult to imagine virtual reality application into medical industry. However, VR is a technology that brings a solution to the problem of medical staff shortage. Through VR, doctors can interact with patiens as avatars, gathering initial data regardless of distance and time. VR can be also used in personalized therapy through simulating specific life scenes and events.
5. Cybersecurity: As users submit personal information to health apps and devices, the issue of privacy and cybersecurity becomes vital for both developers and consumers. In this case, hackers can seriously affect person’s health. Both app developers and medical professionals need to implement preemptive measures to ensure the safety of consumers.

The mobile app marketing agency Comboapp has planned to open a new Connected Health and Wellness branch that will focus on smartphone-connected health devices.

After successful completion of current mHealth projects and seeing ever growing demand, we decided to make a deep dive into a connected health vertical within our company, – says Julia Guzunova, VP Comboapp – On a personal level we’re excited to have an opportunity to fuse mobile technology and healthcare. It’s quite clear that medical apps and connected devices is the future of healthcare, and industry will move towards wearables and IoT. We want to bring our mobile marketing expertise and business analytics experience into this vertical, be a part of this brave new world.

ComboApp has already worked with health apps, helping them to reach target audiences and build active user bases. The sleep tracking mobile app MobileSleepDoc Pro is one of several happy clients.

MobileSleepDoc Pro was designed to track sleep activity and help resolve sleep issues, so its main target audience were people who were concerned about their health and wellness. Marketing strategies, designed by ComboApp agency, have concentrated on reaching fitness and wellness bloggers and asking them for app reviews. Bloggers have tested apps, integrated with tracking devices, and shared their positive thoughts with communities. MobileSleepDoc Pro received an average user review rating of 4.5 stars, with over 60% giving 5 star reviews, and an improved retention rate.

Comboapp will facilitate a presence in the connected health and wellness vertical both in terms of available services and expert insight. They will develop several new services, including:

• Engaging healthcare providers with their patients,
• Making digital products more helpful and understandable for patients (user behaviour), and
• Use and analysis of population health databases to identify more insights about patients.