The Patient’s Guide Reveals How iPhone Dominates Mobile Health Research

Over a 2-year period, The Patient’s Guide compiled information concerning mobile engagement trends from over 12 million visitors. They were looking to see if there was a trend toward mobile computing for healthcare research versus traditional desktop computing, and how big it was. During this research, The Patient’s Guide discovered how the iPhone pretty much dominates in this arena. 

According to the research, these are the top 10 devices used for finding medical information:

1. iPhone

2. iPad

3. iPod

4. Sony Xperia

5. Samsung Galaxy

6. HTC EVO

7. Motorola Dorid

8. Blackberry

9. HTC INcredible

10. T-Mobile MyTouch

I’m not surprised by these results at all. I mean, almost every health app I look at is available for the iPhone, many available for Android devices, and it’s really hit or miss for Blackberry or Windows’ devices. Not only did this study determine this top ten list, but also found the following interesting facts:

  • 94% increase in consumer medical searches using iPhone in 2012 when compared to 2011
  • An estimated 1.5 million searched for medical information using their iPhone in the last 12 months using Patient’s Guide websites alone
  • iPhone captures 41% of total mobile medical traffic
  • 20% male/80% female searching for medical information online
  • 1 in 3 cell phone owners (31%) have used their phone to look for health information

information submitted by Brittney Roberts, Director of Marketing Communications at The Patient’s Guide

I found a lot of these findings fascinating, particularly that 80 percent of those searching for medical information online are females. It makes sense to me, at least from what I’ve been exposed to. I look at my husband and I. I’m always online, researching different ailments that I’m sure one of us has, and then there’s my husband, who I doubt has ever even been to WebMD. Perhaps women tend to worry more, or even just feel more of an obligation to search out medical information? Who knows. Either way, it’s an interesting finding.

And again, it’s amazing just how many people are using the iPhone. Personally, I don’t like the iPhone, but obviously, it’s very popular, especially among people wanting health information. I wonder why that is — any suggestions?

And finally, it’s crazy that a 1/3 of cell phone users have used their phone to look up health information. I’m not sure if that’s referring to those with smart phones, or just all cell phone users in general, but still, crazy. Though, part of me is surprised it isn’t more.

The news release about this suggests that there are number of different factors influencing these trends, such as “government regulations and insurance reimbursements, as well as the evolution of mobile computing devices such as the new iPad mini.” I definitely feel like this numbers are only going to continue to grow. mHealth just makes things so much more convinient in my opinion (for the most part, at least.)

The Patient’s Guide also created a neat infographic concerning the data found in their study:

To learn more about the study conducted by The Patient’s Guide, follow this link to the infographic/news release.

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December 12, 2012 I Written By

Katie Clark is originally from Colorado and currently lives in Utah with her husband and son. She writes primarily for Smart Phone Health Care, but contributes to several Health Care Scene blogs, including EMR Thoughts, EMR and EHR, and EMR and HIPAA. She enjoys learning about Health IT and mHealth, and finding ways to improve her own health along the way.

Filed Under: Android  Apple  Blackberry  Health Care  Healthcare IT  iPad  iPhone  Medical Devices  mHealth  Mobile Health Care  Patient Home Monitoring  Smart Phones  Social Networking Health  Tablets  Windows Phone
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Striiv Ups the Standard for Pedometers — Games, Challenges, and Charity Incorporated

The amount of pedometers I have owned in my life is a bit ridiculous. Granted, most of them have been free, or cost less than five dollars…but the fact of the manner is — I usually end up losing them as a result of forgetting to use it in the first place.

Striiv, a company that aims to create products that get people walking, has recently come out with two new products to achieve that goal. The first, a $99 pedometer that has tons of features. And the second? Something that anyone who tends to lose pedometers will appreciate.

Both the pedometers were created with activity based games with one goal in mind — to get people moving. The actual pedometer “turns 10,000 steps a day into playing a game, donating to charity, and competing with friends,” according to the Strivv website.

It really looks like a lot of fun. The device is pretty small, and looks like a cell phone. It tracks steps, mileage, and has challenges and tournaments. One of the coolest things about the device is that the more the user uses it, the more customized the experience becomes. It starts to learn habits and adapt to lifestyles. And instead of simply just showing the amount of calories burned, or miles walked, the device shows food items that have been burned, and shows distances like walking across the golden gate bridge.

Every step a person walks while using the Striiv Smart Pedometer, money gets donated to charity. This is a free service to the user, and goes to a great cause.

It also has a fun fitness game called “My Land.” Here is the description of it from the website:

MyLand is the first ever fitness based game on a pedometer. The concept is simple. You start with an enchanted island and your goal is to bring back the animals that inhabit the island by planting the building trees and places to live. Everything you build is based on how much you walk, run, and take the stairs though. So the more you move, the more you progress.

For anyone that likes games or is competitive, this sounds like the perfect motivation!

Now for those who can’t afford the $99 price tag, or just simply want to incoporate a pedometer into their phone, the free app from Striiv is a great idea. I mean, I always have my phone with me. Almost no chance of losing it, right?

The app creates customized challenges to “hit throughout the day.” It keeps track of distances and calories burned (Striiv actually teamed up with MyFitnessPal to help track nutrition.) Users can compete against friends, or even people they don’t know, for some added motivation. It also creates graphs about weight loss and distance walked.

“MyLand” is also available on the app, so you won’t be missing out by just getting the free app. I wasn’t able to figure out if walking goes toward charity, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it does.

I’ve often heard that walking is the first “step” toward becoming healthier. And it looks like Striiv is making great strides to making that easier and more enjoyable. I’d love to try out either of these, but I’ll just have to wait and see if the app comes out for Android.

Download the app for free here
Striiv Smart Pedometer can be purchased here

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October 26, 2012 I Written By

Katie Clark is originally from Colorado and currently lives in Utah with her husband and son. She writes primarily for Smart Phone Health Care, but contributes to several Health Care Scene blogs, including EMR Thoughts, EMR and EHR, and EMR and HIPAA. She enjoys learning about Health IT and mHealth, and finding ways to improve her own health along the way.

Filed Under: Apple  Gadgets  Health Care  Health Games  Healthcare IT  iPad  iPhone  mHealth  Mobile Health Care  Patient Home Monitoring  Smart Phones  Social Networking Health
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Managing Pain With New WebMD App

Yesterday, I received an email from WebMD with news of a new app. It caught me eye, so I decided to look a little more into it.

The app is called Pain Coach, with the subtitle “A Better Day Starts Here.” For anyone that deals with any type of chronic pain, that is definitely a tempting proposition.

When a person goes to the doctor for any type of persistent pain, the doctor is ineveitably going to ask “So, where does it hurt?” Having been in this position myself, I usually draw a blank and give a very generic area — which could indicate a whole variety of problems. This app would be great for a doctor to “prescribe” to a patient who might need a little help pinpointing exactly where the pain is, what the triggers are, and how to describe that pain to the doctor. It would definitely make doctor’s appointments go smoother, in my opinion.

So let’s take a look at what this app actually has to offer.

First off, it is only available for the iPhone — sorry Android users (myself included!) The email I got listed the following features:

  • Doctor-approved information customized to your condition
  • A personal journal that tracks your pain level on scale of 1 to 10, as well as your symptoms, treatments, and triggers. Email a PDF report of your pain history in time for your next doctor visit.
  • Goals to help you manage your pain.
  • Hundreds of daily tips to help you achieve your goals

Here a few screen shots, provided by iTunes:

This shows a basic summary of a particular day. There is definitely a lot of detail, probably more than most doctors really would care about…but it seems pretty easy to track.

This looks like the pain identification center…once again, it has lots of details. I think pinpointing specific times and dates can really show specific triggers for pain.

 

 

And finally, here’s a picture of a graph that can be created to map pain over a certain period of time. I imagine this might be something a physician would be interested in.

As with most mobile health apps, this is a great idea . . . if people actually remember to use it beyond the first few days after the initial download. I’ve been thinking a lot about a post over at Happy EMR Doctor about patient engagement. What is it going to take for patients to actually use medical apps on a long term basis? Either way, I think this is a neat app, and I hope it becomes available for Android phones soon!

This app is absolutely free, and can be downloaded for free here from the iTunes app store.

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October 18, 2012 I Written By

Katie Clark is originally from Colorado and currently lives in Utah with her husband and son. She writes primarily for Smart Phone Health Care, but contributes to several Health Care Scene blogs, including EMR Thoughts, EMR and EHR, and EMR and HIPAA. She enjoys learning about Health IT and mHealth, and finding ways to improve her own health along the way.

Filed Under: Apple  Health Care  Healthcare IT  Healthcare Social Media  iPad  iPhone  mHealth  Mobile Health Care  Patient Home Monitoring  Social Networking Health
Tags:  Happy EMR Doctor      iTunes  Pain Coach    

Why Medical App Makers Should Get Apps Certified

Is getting an app certified worth the effort? David Lee Scher, MD, recently listed five reasons why it is a good idea. These reasons are:

1. Consumers, patients and healthcare providers want reliable, safe apps.

2. App stores will request or showcase certified apps.

3. Certification standards will serve as a guide for app developers

4. Certification will become a competitive advantage in the marketplace

5. Certification might become a standard for reimbursement and formulary placement by players.

I’m not exactly sure what it is going to take to get certified, though we have an idea of what the standards Happtique plan to have. David Scher, MD, was the chairman for the panel that drafted the standards for Happtique. It may seem like an additional hassle (especially with the additional issues that might arise if apps are regulated by the FDA), but I think it will be worth it. To be honest, when I see that something has a “seal of approval” from a respected person or company, I’m a lot more likely to trust the product.

Because many of the health apps that are currently on the market (or will be released in the future) are actually being used to help treat people or provide medical information, this certification might have more pull in someone selecting it, as opposed to other apps being certified. I hope that getting certified isn’t a hard process that will discourage creators from investing their time in it. What do you think? Would you be more likely to use an app if it was certified by Happtique, or other certification programs?

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October 15, 2012 I Written By

Katie Clark is originally from Colorado and currently lives in Utah with her husband and son. She writes primarily for Smart Phone Health Care, but contributes to several Health Care Scene blogs, including EMR Thoughts, EMR and EHR, and EMR and HIPAA. She enjoys learning about Health IT and mHealth, and finding ways to improve her own health along the way.

Filed Under: Android  Apple  Health Care  Healthcare IT  Medical Devices  mHealth  Mobile Health Care  Smart Phones  Social Networking Health
Tags:App Certification  David Scher  

Traqs: One Tool to Rule Them All

Next on the agenda on our journey through a list of five personal data innovations to watch is Traqs.

There are SO many different gadgets out there to help enhance workouts and overall health. However, it can be hard to keep track of them. I have all sorts of apps downloaded on my phone, but it becomes kind of a tedious task to go through and individually check up on each one. That’s where Traqs comes in.

It has a dashboard that collects all the data from various gadgets and apps into one place. So instead of checking every single app for updates, only one is now needed. Unfortunately, for the time being, there are only a few gadgets that are currently compatible with the system — Fitbit, Withings, Zeo, Garmin, and other GPS devices. However, the company promises for more integration soon.

It is currently in beta-testing, and one must request an invite in order to possibly get in on this before it’s available to the public. As such, the website doesn’t provide a lot of information, but it does boast of the following features:

  • Track your life —  users can track just anything from fitness and sleep to their current location.
  • Plug n’ Play — it’s compatible with quite a few devices and more apps/devices will be integrated soon
  • Access your data — store, sync, or download anything needed from devices
  • Visual dashboard — a personalized hub to help monitor progress and see results
  • Reports — data taken from devices can be generated into a report
  • Location Aware — This creates your “top places” and creates maps according to GPS data that can be imported.
It’s a pretty cool idea, and I think a lot of people will be attracted to the efficiency this innovation brings. If this turns out to be as good as it sounds, taking control of health will be even easier.
This tool has a lot of features I think anyone can enjoy. Data junkies will enjoy the graphs, charts, and information all neatly compiled together. Anyone who loves social media, especially things like FourSquare, won’t be able to resist the “Location Aware” feature. And anyone looking to simplify their lives, but still use all their favorite gadgets will probably find this useful.
Isn’t it incredible all of the new ideas that are coming forth? I was just thinking the other day — is there going to be anything better invented? It seems like just about everything I can think of has been! However, this is probably just the beginning. While I don’t have Fitbit, or any of the other currently-compatible devices, I’m definitely signing up for an invitation. Hopefully some of the apps I use will be compatible soon too .
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September 27, 2012 I Written By

Katie Clark is originally from Colorado and currently lives in Utah with her husband and son. She writes primarily for Smart Phone Health Care, but contributes to several Health Care Scene blogs, including EMR Thoughts, EMR and EHR, and EMR and HIPAA. She enjoys learning about Health IT and mHealth, and finding ways to improve her own health along the way.

Filed Under: Gadgets  Health Care  Healthcare IT  Medical Devices  mHealth  Mobile Health Care  Patient Home Monitoring  Smart Phones  Social Networking Health
Tags:Medical Devices    Mobile Health  Personal Data  Personal Data Innovations  Traqs  Traqs.me

Succeeding in the mHealth App Creation Frenzy — Make It Simple and Valuable

Since we’re on the topic of making apps easier to use, I thought I’d comment on another article I read at Fierce Mobile Care.

Mobile health apps are being created left and right. Some are successful, others are not. The question many developers should be asking themselves is how to separate their app from one of the more than 10,000 medical and healthcare apps currently available? Show value and make it simple, according to this article.

The author of the article makes a good point:

The problem is that too many of the apps are duplicative. After all, how many BMI calculators does a person need? Far fewer are focused on managing chronic conditions, though apps to help manage diabetes tend to be among the most popular.

I imagine a BMI calculator is far more simple to make than an app that is designed to help treat chronic illnesses. But like this person said . . . how many BMI calculators do you actually need? To be honest, I don’t even need one — I have a browser that can give me that information just as quickly, plus it doesn’t take up room on my phone.

The article referenced another articles called “What’s the Matter With Mobile Health Apps Today?” There were a lot of interesting points made, and I think that this graph really displays her opinion well:

I download lots of mHealth apps to my phone, and to be honest, most of them end up getting deleted after I realize I never use them. Which is sad, I know, but life gets busy and I don’t find them absolutely essential to my life, and many of them are just time consuming to understand. Rhona Finkel, author of the article explains the phenomenon (and it makes me feel better to know that only 20 percent of users use an app again the day after it’s downloaded; 5 percent after a month, and almost 0 at 3 months):

Fundamentally, it seems, it’s a little like starting a new exercise program.  Everyone starts off enthusiastic, buys a new running outfit, fits themselves with a new pair of Nikes and sets off running every day. By week two it’s down to a light job twice a week. A month into it people are back in their sweats, sitting around the TV with a bowl of potato chips.

It’s like Rhona was watching my life.

But why is it that apps aren’t “sticking?” Are the only ones that really get used consistently ones that are “prescribed” to patients — and even then, those apps probably go largely unused. Here’s Rhona’s guess:

I’ll tell you what’s wrong in a nutshell. It’s boring and time-consuming to enter the data required by so many apps to get the most bang for your buck. I mean to enter my calories consumed, my medicines taken, my notes in my gratitude journal. But in the end I’m really more of a potato-chip-on-the-couch type of app consumer than one enthusiastically willing to exercise my fingers and thumbs.

The bottom line is, an app needs to be interesting. Interesting enough that person is excited to open it, rather than dread it. We live in a world where people get bored easily. Should apps incorporate games, music, and lots of flashy things? I don’t think so. That’s not what health is all about. H&HN Daily’s writer Ian Morrison suggests “that complexity and confusion are also a major part of consumer engagement issues . . . [and] advises that hospitals keep it simple with their products and services because patients are reluctant to engage in their health with confusing option.”

mHealth apps are supposed to make our lives easier, and really, I think they would if we spent as much time using them as we do playing Angry Birds. Have any of you found apps that meet the goals of showing value and being simple?

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September 19, 2012 I Written By

Katie Clark is originally from Colorado and currently lives in Utah with her husband and son. She writes primarily for Smart Phone Health Care, but contributes to several Health Care Scene blogs, including EMR Thoughts, EMR and EHR, and EMR and HIPAA. She enjoys learning about Health IT and mHealth, and finding ways to improve her own health along the way.

Filed Under: Android  Apple  Blackberry  Gadgets  Health Care  Healthcare IT  Healthcare Social Media  Medical Devices  mHealth  Mobile Health Care  Patient Home Monitoring  Smart Phones  Social Networking Health
Tags:  Mobile Health  

Runtastic Makes Tracking Exercise Easier and More Fun

If none of the running apps from this post struck your fancy, here’s another great one to try out. Runtastic. It’s not just a run of the mill running app. It’s a running app on steroids. Their moto is “runtastic – makes sports funtastic.” When I first started to review it, it didn’t seem too different from apps I’ve tried in the past, but the more I looked into it, the more I really liked it. If you are really meticulous about tracking your exercise, this definitely is the app for you. It tracks just about everything I can think of. And, it isn’t just for running. The app has tons of different exercises you can select and have it track. Here is the main page:

It keeps track of the history of your exercise, and at the top is a running total of how many calories have been burned, total duration, and mile count. From here, you can also select specific workouts that you want to view the details of. I haven’t used the app too much, so I’m not sure if the workouts stay forever, but it seems to have a good history.

The next few screen shots show what is kept track of for each workout. The main page shows the pace, speed, elevation, and calories. At the end of each workout, you can put in an emoticon to describe how you felt, what kind of terrain you ran on, and even the temperature (which is automatically put in by the app).

The split table allows you to see how fast you went at certain times throughout the exercise session (this particular one was a walk), such as the fastest and slowest sections.

The graphs available show where the elevation was at, the speed, heart rate and pace throughout the run (or whatever exercise you selected).

Finally, you can view a map of the run. This is pretty standard for most running apps.

Potentially the coolest feature of this app is 3D Google Earth view. Unfortunately, this is only available for Android devices, but if you have one, it’s pretty awesome. Check out this video about what it is exactly:

The app also lets users hook up different sensors to more accurately track heart rate, steps, and speed. Ones that have been created specifically by runtastic will be available soon. Check out the sensors here.

runtastic also has different apps that are more specifically tailored to different sports and exercises. The one I reviewed is the standard one that is most specifically for running, but there’s a pedometer, walking, and even winter sports. Check out a full list here. I wasn’t totally sold on how accurate the calorie counter was, as once I started the tracking prematurely as I sat and waited for my sister to arrive, and it told me I had burned around 30 calories just sitting there. I feel as if it would be more accurate if there was the ability to enter in stats, such as age, weight, and sex, and then calories burned would be more accurate. Who knows though.

There are also training plans available for users. This function is only currently available for the iPhone, but there are quite a few available . I wish I had an iPhone, because it seems pretty cool. The plans can be accessed online for those of us without an iPhone, but they obviously aren’t quite as accessible because it isn’t going in your ear as you run. They do cost money, usually around $8 for a Gold member, or $14 for anyone else. To become a Gold member, check out membership fees here.

One kind of fun feature is the “cheer” function. If you allow your app to connect to the runtastic website, your workout will be featured “live” and people can cheer you on. If you need some motivation, that might do the trick. You can also view lots of details concerning your workouts through your online account, connect with friends, input body measurements, and more. I probably won’t use that too often, but it seemed like a neat interface.

The app is available for the iPhone, Android devices, Blackberry devicse, and Windows 7 devices though the features do vary. The lite version is free, but to really get the full functionality of the app, it would be a smart idea upgrade to the Pro version:

iPhone: Runtastic Pro – 5.99 Runtastic – Free

Android:  

Blackberry: Runtastic Pro – 3.99 Runtastic – Free

Windows 7: Runtastic Pro – 4.99 Runtastic – Free

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August 13, 2012 I Written By

Katie Clark is originally from Colorado and currently lives in Utah with her husband and son. She writes primarily for Smart Phone Health Care, but contributes to several Health Care Scene blogs, including EMR Thoughts, EMR and EHR, and EMR and HIPAA. She enjoys learning about Health IT and mHealth, and finding ways to improve her own health along the way.

Filed Under: Android  Apple  Blackberry  Gadgets  iPhone  mHealth  Smart Phones  Social Networking Health  Windows Phone
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Care4Today Reminds Patients to Take Medications, Fill Prescriptions, and To Take Control of Health Care Situation

An app designed to help patients remember important medical events was recently released for the iPhone. Care4Today, created by Janssen Research & Development, lets its users set up alerts to fill medications, doctor’s appointments, and reminders to take medication. In addition, it allows for easy storage of contact information and passwords.

This app is secure, so users can rest at peace, knowing that their information won’t be accessed by unauthorized people.

One feature I liked was the medication log. It keeps track of when you last took a medication. While it does take a little bit of effort to input that information, it would be helpful for those willing to do that. I know that I’ve forgotten many times when, and even if, I took some a medication or vitamin, and I ended up skipping it because I didn’t want to overdose. For the forgetful type, this is the perfect feature.

Dr. Diego Miralles, head of Janssen Healthcare Innovation, talked about why Care4Today was created:

The Care4Today Mobile Adherence platform can help overcome the number one barrier to consumers taking their medications by providing customized reminders delivered via secure messagiing directly to their cell phone, a device that most people carry with them at all times.

This doesn’t seem to be a new idea — setting up reminders for important events. Whenever I set up an appointment for the doctor, I immediately enter it into my calendar that is on the home page of my phone. I’m not sure if it would prove to be more efficient just to keep doing that, or to actual enter that information into this app. Maybe I’m not understanding the app correctly, but I think I’ll stick with my calendar for keeping track of appointments.

Overall, I think this app would be most helpful for reminders on refilling medications and to take medications. It would be cool if a feature could be added, that, after you receive an alert for a refill, you could select for a message to be sent to your pharmacy of choice with a request to have the medication prepared for you to pick up at a certain time. Not sure how feasible that would be, but it sure would be easier than calling, or just showing up at the pharmacy and hoping there wasn’t a wait (who am I kidding — there is always a wait!)

This app is free though and available for  and the iPhone.

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August 2, 2012 I Written By

Katie Clark is originally from Colorado and currently lives in Utah with her husband and son. She writes primarily for Smart Phone Health Care, but contributes to several Health Care Scene blogs, including EMR Thoughts, EMR and EHR, and EMR and HIPAA. She enjoys learning about Health IT and mHealth, and finding ways to improve her own health along the way.

Filed Under: Android  Apple  Gadgets  Health Care  Healthcare IT  iPhone  mHealth  Mobile Health Care  Smart Phones  Social Networking Health
Tags:App to Track Medications  Care4Today  Dr. Diego Miralles    Janssen Research & Development      Mobile Health

Is mHealth Poised to Explode? Infograph Showing Growth of mHealth

The more that I discover, the more I love infographics. There’s just something about them that draws me in. I mean, some of the information listed on different infographics would probably be less-than-interesting presented by itself, or jumbled together with a bunch of other textual facts. However, adding some pictures and some colorful text makes it so much easier to read.

I found this as I was perusing Pinterest (it’s not just for finding meals, or sewing projects. A post on mHealth in Pinterest coming soon.) As you can see, this infographic poses the questions “Is mHealth poised to explode?”

These stats are crazy. There are more than 10,000 health apps in the iTunes App store? Sure, some of those are useless, but even after weeding those out, there’s so many. I think mHealth has a huge potential to change the way we view and access health care. The possibilities are endless! It was interesting, however, that 88 percent of doctor’s want their patients to monitor vital stats at home. How accurate could this be? This raises the question, will people actually do that? People don’t always do what their doctor’s advise, either because they don’t feel like it, or they forget. So what makes doctor’s think patients will actually track their vital stats? Maybe if they are using a mobile app, it will be easier, especially if there are reminders embedded into the app.

I’m interesting in finding out more about the apps listed at the end of this. They all seem pretty cool, and show just how innovative mHealth is becoming. Look for some posts on those in the future.

I definitely agree with the 40 percent of doctors that believe mobile technology will reduce the number of visits to the doctor. I’ve seen this to be true in my own life, as I’ve been able to find answers to some of my questions without having to call and bother my doctor in the middle of the night, or going to the doctor unnecessarily. If mHealth can safely reduce the number of visits to the doctor’s office, I feel like everyone would benefit: Less people would be paying unnecessary co-pays, doctor’s offices would be less crowded, resulting in less waiting time for patient’s that actually need to be there.

I love this time that we live in there. There are so many opportunities available, and ways to better how we live. To answer the questions asked by this infograph, we are just at the beginning of the mHealth explosion. It will be exciting to see what will come about in the near future.

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July 31, 2012 I Written By

Katie Clark is originally from Colorado and currently lives in Utah with her husband and son. She writes primarily for Smart Phone Health Care, but contributes to several Health Care Scene blogs, including EMR Thoughts, EMR and EHR, and EMR and HIPAA. She enjoys learning about Health IT and mHealth, and finding ways to improve her own health along the way.

Filed Under: Gadgets  Health Care  Healthcare IT  Healthcare Social Media  Medical Devices  mHealth  Mobile Health Care  Patient Home Monitoring  Smart Phones  Social Networking Health
Tags:Medical Infograph      Smart Phone  

5 Must Have Mobile Apps for Runners

There are a lot of apps out there for runners. The question is, which ones are worth downloading? I’ve gone through quite a few different map trackers and I think I have a pretty good idea of my favorite ones. However, there are also a lot of other great apps that extend beyond map trackers. So here is a round-up of apps every runner should download:

1. Instant Heart Rate: Keeping your heart rate within an appropriate range for your age, height, and weight is essential in obtaining an optimal workout. Heart rate monitors can be pricey, however, so not many people have one. Luckily, there is a heart rate monitor that is available for your phone! , which has an almost 5-star rating from almost 81,000 reviews. The description in the Google Play Store says that its “accuracy is constantly tested by fitness coaches, nurses, doctors, EMTs, and 5 million users.” It’s very simple to use — the user just puts their finger onto their phone’s camera and the heart rate will display in a few seconds. It’s actually a pretty neat app, and I like using this a whole lot more than trying to find my own pulse. If you are looking to optimize your runs (or other workouts!), this is a great app to have on your phone.

Download for Android phones  for free

Download for the iPhone here for .99

2. MapMyRun: This app is one of my favorites, and is part of the MapMyFitness suite. It simply tracks where you run using real-time GPS. I’ve found it to be very accurate, and I love being able to see exactly where I ran and how far I ran for. It can be connected to your MapMyRun.com account, which is an awesome website in itself. I like being able to search other runners routes that are near you, because it helps me find some variety. If you like bragging about your workouts, you can post directly to Facebook how fast and how far you ran. However, if your MPH is rather embarrassing like mine, you can just leave that information out! There are a lot of GPS running trackers out there, but I’ve found this one to be the easiest to use, and the cleanest interface.  It also tracks calories burned, information on nutrition, and more. Another very popular one is , which boasts of having no advertising.

Download for Android phones

Download for the iPhone here

3. Adidas miCoach: One of the hardest parts of running, at least in my opinion, is getting the motivation to do it. Quite often the thought goes through my head “Go outside in the hot, sweat a ton, and feel sore the rest of the day or stay home in my air conditioned house and catch up on my reality TV shows”, and I want to pick the latter. However, that’s not a good way to stay in shape. So, for anyone out there who needs an extra boost, the Adidas miCoach is a great app. It uses real-time voice coaching to encourage and educate you on parts of your workout, lets you select a workout plan that is ideal for your personal  goals and body type, and many other interesting features. It even has a “shoe usage” feature that sends you alerts on how worn out your shoes are getting. So if you want your own personal trainer talking you through your runs, this is a great app to have.

Download for Android

Download for iPhone here

4. Daily Ab Workout: A person can’t be in truly great shape just by running. You have to eat right, get enough sleep, and incorporate other workouts as well. Having a strong core is essential for running, so the Daily Ab Workout app is great to use in accordance with any running regimen. It has three ab work outs that last between 5 and 10 minutes each, and the reviews rave about it. Unlike a lot of apps similar to this on smart phones, there are full-length videos included, not just pictures or written instructions. It’s add free and has different workout modes you can select from. I haven’t used this app extensively yet, but I plan to in the future. Either way, I think it’s another app anyone who is committed to getting in better shape and becoming a better runner should have.

Download for Android for .99

Download for iPhone here for .99

5. Epic Runner: After all the training and hard work that comes with running, it’s nice to see those efforts pay off. What better way than running in a 5K, half-marathon, or even marathon. While finding a race can be done online, this app makes it easy to find races and get a running plan that is customized for that date. It shows you a map of the races you have found in your area, and also has a fitness couch incorporated. One of the neatest features, in my opinion, is Running Calculator. It basically takes your running stats from previous runs and predict race results according to that, even down to racing categories such as age and sex. This app does cost money, but seems pretty handy.

Download for Android

Run Tracker:

Keep you well-rounded: 

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July 30, 2012 I Written By

Katie Clark is originally from Colorado and currently lives in Utah with her husband and son. She writes primarily for Smart Phone Health Care, but contributes to several Health Care Scene blogs, including EMR Thoughts, EMR and EHR, and EMR and HIPAA. She enjoys learning about Health IT and mHealth, and finding ways to improve her own health along the way.

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