iPhone Apps | Smart Phone Health Care

Apple’s Top 118 Apps for Doctors

“: Apple’s top 118 apps for doctors, nurses and patients http://t.co/mqCbhFCDZP”

— Elin Silveous (@ElinSilveous)

I had to kind of laugh at this tweet. I have mixed feelings of a “top” 118 mobile applications. At first glance, 118 seems like far too many apps for a “top” list. Although, when you start to think that there are tens of thousands and possibly over a hundred thousand mobile health applications, maybe 118 is a pretty narrow list.

Of course, the irony is that we only use on average about 5 applications regularly. Sure, we download dozens more, but we only use a few of the applications on a regular basis. Doctors are definitely no different in this regard. Maybe their average is a tough higher, but it’s still less than 118 applications. Think about what it would take to use 118 applications regularly. There’s not enough hours in a day to even do it.

What I do think this is showing is that we’re starting to see a maturing of the mobile health industry. Hopefully soon we’ll have some breakaway apps that really define the space and become a true “top” mobile app for doctors.

I recently read an article that talk about the difference between mobile and desktop. One difference they described was that on the desktop we turn to Google, but on a mobile we turn to apps. For example, if you want to know the weather on your desktop you Google to find it out. On your mobile you open your weather app or look at your weather widget. I think we can take this learning and apply it to healthcare.

Five Helpful Mobile Apps for Radiologists

After seeing the popularity of my post about great mobile apps for medical students, I thought I would do a few more posts like that, focusing on different types of medical professions. Today, radiologists.

There are TONS of mobile resources for radiologists. Granted, the best ones are rather expensive, but from what I gather, well-worth the cost. However, there are also some pretty handy free (or really inexpensive) ones as well. After doing some research, here are a few of the apps I think could be helpful for those in radiology. Unfortunately, they are all for iOS devices, though some may be available for Android in the future.

1) Diagnostic Radiology App

iMedicalapps.com made the claim that this app is “possibly the best radiology app for iOS.” This is actually more like an interactive textbook. There is a very comprehensive, searchable database with over 30 different cases. The results from each case can be hidden in order to help the user think up their own solutions. There are excellent image sets included in each case as well. The app is meant for the iPad, but apparently, works rather smoothly on the smaller iPod and iPhone screens. This specific app is geared toward abdominal radiology, though other emphases are in the works. The app does cost quite a bit at $44.99, however, there is a free version which apparently is still very good. One reviewer claimed that “this app is amazing. I . . . expected a freebie with perhaps a bit of useful content. How wrong I was.”

This app is amazing. I downloaded it yesterday and expected a freebie with perhaps a bit of useful content. How wrong I was.

Download the full version here, and the free version here.

2) RSNA Radiology

This app is for Radiology, a top-rated, peer-reviewed journal. It contains tons of great articles that can be easily searched, as well as sent to colleagues. The font size is also adjustable, which accomodates the young and old radiologist. There are also included podcasts which can be listened to through the app. As I mentioned, the articles can be searched, which is definitely useful if someone is looking for a specific part of a certain article. New research with commentary and critiques from different experts in the radiology world is one of the highlights of RSNA Radiology. This app is totally free, which is awesome, considering all the great resources that it includes. It isn’t currently available for Android devices, though it can be accessed from Android phones and tablets at m.radiology.rsna.org.

Download for iOS devices here.

3) Radiology Toolbox

According to the description on iTunes, Radiology Toolbox is “the radiologist’s ectopic brain.” This app was created to anyone involved in radioloy, from the student just starting their studies, to the seasoned radiologist. There are two versions, the lite and the pro, and each include useful tools such as a GFR calculator, gastric emptying times, and a radiographic contrast premedication. The pro version has a lot more tools like a adrenal adenoma calculator and charts of AFI, pediatric spleen, and kidney size. The apps are still in their beginning stages, so expect updates to come regularly, but this is definitely an app that anyone in the radiology field should have.

Download the pro version for 4.99 here, and the free version here. This app is only available for iOS devices at this time.

4) SeeMyRadiology Mobile

This app allows users to view medical images and reports, right on their mobile device! Not only that, but photos can be taken directly with the mobile device and saved directly to the app or shared with others. It is HIPAA compliant, a secure cloud-computing platform, and approved by Accelarad for medical image review. Images can be searched for very easily, using either a patient’s name, time-frame, or medical record number. There’s a bunch of other neat features, and the app creators have gone to great lengths to ensure the security of the app (such as requiring a pin after a period of inactivity, and making sure no PHI is stored on the device upon closure of a case.) The app goes hand-in-hand with SeeMyRadiology.com. Best of all, it’s free.

Download for iOS here.

5) Radiology 2.0: One Night in the ED

For those that can’t afford Diagnostic Radiology, or simply would like another reference guide, this is another great option with tons of features. It has different cases that can be viewed, and the user is able to act as if they are actually reading and interpreting the CT scan from a PACS workstation. There are over 7,000 images included in the app and hundreds of pages of information, all of which can be viewed offline. It’s an excellent way to improve one’s ability to interpret images. Important information is highlighted and explained, and images are shown in a very realistic way.

Download for iOS here (the complete version, for free!)

Although I only highlighted five apps here, there are many more worthy to be on this list. Feel free to let me know what your favorite radiology app is!

Is there a specific field of medicine you’d like me to find good apps for? Leave a comment, and I’ll put in on my list!

Chandler Regional Creates App For Premature Baby Parents

While my son fortunately didn’t have to spend anytime in the NICU when he was born, 10-15 percent of babies aren’t so lucky. Chandler Regional Hospital recently released an incredible app to help parents of pre-mature babies. Seriously, it’s pretty cool. I started out including this in my recent post about apps for parents, but I felt like it needed a better review.

Guide for New Parents was developed mainly for NICU parents, but any parent can find use in it. Portions of it are aimed specifically at people who have children in the NICU at Chandler Regional Hospital. This portion has tours of the NICU and other educational videos.

There are five other main sections, which can be used by any new parent. Here’s a little bit of information on each of them.

Track My Baby

There are a lot of apps and websites out there to help track development, but this one is unique in the sense that you can follow development according to an infant’s gestational age. Premature infants reach milestones according to an adjusted age, not necessarily their actual age. Weight, length, and head circumference can be tracked, and they are plotted on a graph next to percentiles. It also provides ideas for parents on a variety of topics, such as bonding.

I like that you can plot growth information and see it compared to percentiles. This could be really helpful in tracking an infant’s growth from home and identifying any abnormalities, because sometime a doctor may overlook something, or if another doctor needs to see information. My son had rapid head growth early in life, and recently we were referred to a pediatric neurologist. Because this doctor and my son’s pediatrician didn’t have the same system, he was unable to pull up any information, even though he said it would have been nice to be able to see the graphs. Having something like this would have been helpful at that time.

Feeding My Baby

One concern I hear over and over again from new parent is, is my baby eating enough? And honestly, it can be hard to know, if you don’t know what signs to look for. This section contains tons of information on feeding, focusing mostly on breastfeeding, and providing links to information about it. It talks about common challenges that arise, but also has information on formula feeding, for parents who choose that route.

There is a neat log to help track feedings. It includes a timer that a parent can start when a feeding begins, and end at the conclusion. The information automatically gets added in to the log. I remember at the first few doctor’s appointments of my son’s life, I was always being asked “how much has he eaten, how often, and for how long,” and in my sleep deprived state…I never could tell them. It also would have been helpful when I had to keep careful track of how long and often my son was eating when he was in the hospital. It would have been way easier than having to look at the clock and then write on a white board the numbers (which was so hard in the middle of the night!)

Spiritual Care

Now, I know not everyone is religious, so this may not be relevant for some. I’ve really never seen a feature like this before, and being a religious person myself, I appreciated it being included. However, as I’ve read reviews about it, it wasn’t the most helpful place. It mainly just included quotes and inspirational thoughts, that aren’t necessarily tailored toward a parent’s situation. I think this could be improved by having different sections of quotes, letting parents select what type of belief system they come from, and have thoughts tailored toward that, and even having the option for just uplifting, not necessarily religious messages.

Follow-up Care and Find my Hospital

These last two sections will really just be helpful for people being treated at Chandler Regional. The follow-up care lets parents search for doctors in the area who may be of use to them, and the find my hospital section just gives basic information about the hospital.

Overall, I think this is a really cool app, especially for those who had a premature infant. There are a lot of features that I really like, but also room for improvement. Some of the complaints I”ve seen is that there really aren’t a lot of videos, and it doesn’t have a section about problem that might arise with a child, and how to resolve them. I think that would be a particularly important thing, especially for parent’s of premature infants, where health problems are probably more likely to arise.

This app is free, and available for iOS devices.

Five Medical Apps Every Parent Should Have

Some of my favorite apps that I’ve used were designed for pregnant women (check out some great pregnancy apps I reviewed awhile back.) However, now that I’ve moved onto the next stage – you know, parenthood – I’ve found myself wanting to find some apps that educate and help parents take control of their child’s health. So tonight, I went on a search for some of those apps. Surprisingly, I had a hard time finding some, but I think the ones I found were worth the search. Whether you are a brand new mom or dad, or a seasoned parent of six, I think any parent (or even grandparent or caregiver) will appreciate these.

1) WebMD Baby: Obviously, I’m a big fan of WebMD and their mobile products. So I was a little surprised when I realized I didn’t have WebMD Baby on my phone. The app boasts that it “is like having a pediatrician in your pocket.” And who doesn’t want that? It has tons of information, articles, and videos to help a parent get through those first two years, and what a parent sees is specifically geared toward the age of their child. Beyond medical information and advice, there is a “baby book,” where parents can record when a child hits certain milestones. Some of the key features are tools for height and weight measurements, sleep timer, check-up schedule, and weekly guides. If you download just one app, this would be the one I would consider. It’s kind of an all-around guide to raising a healthy baby. The app is free and available for both and iOS devices.

2) Sleep Champ App: I don’t know many parents who haven’t had issues with their child sleeping at some point or another. For my husband and me, we’re living through that stage right now. But what if there is some underlying issue, beyond just wanting to be near mommy and daddy? Sleep Champ was developed for parents and pediatricians, to help identify sleep problems in children, as well as offer suggestions for things like bed wetting. This app helps determine a child’s sleep quality. It asks simple yes-or-no questions and a score is generated. It isn’t meant to diagnose children, but perhaps give parents an indication if something needs to be investigated. The app does cost $3.99 for both and iOS devices.

3) KidsDoc: While the WebMD app can help identify illnesses, Kids Doc was created specifically for it. This app was developed by the American Academy of Pediatrics, and feature on their website, HealthyChildren.org. Illnesses are identified in three easy steps — selecting the most significant symptom (out of 99 choices), view the symptom decision chart to decide on a course of action, and then follow suggestions from a self-care guide to help a child feel better (even if it’s just to help until they can see a medical professional.) It also has dosage information for different medications, images to help identify visible symptoms, and the ability to call a doctor, hospital, or 911 with the click of a button. I personally love this app, and think it’s a great one for any parent or caregiver to have. It costs $1.99 and is available for both and iOS devices, but some features can be accessed from the HealthyChildren.org website.

4) iHomeopathy: For parents who choose a more natural way to treat their children’s illnesses, iHomeopathy is a great app. It helps find correct natural homepathic medications and dosages for tons of different situations (medical and first aid), can identify early signs of serious medical issues, and gives the location of pharmacies and grocery stores that sell the medications. It doesn’t need to be connected to WiFi or a data network to work, which is great for emergency situations. The description of the app says that it quickly help the user find information, without having to sort through tons of different conditions and symptoms. It has been featured on many different best app lists, including Parent’s Magazine’s “Best iPhone Apps for Parents” and Today’s Parent Magazines “21 Apps for Parents.” I tried to access the website for iHomeopathy, but it seems to not exist anymore. I don’t It is only available for the iPhone and iPad, and costs $1.99.

5) iEmergency ICE Family PRO: This app is basically a digital emergency ID card. While I would recommend still having emergency info on a hard copy somewhere (you know, for those times when the phone is dead), I think it is smart to have this information on a phone, ready to be accessed at a moment’s notice. All information that might be needed for an emergency situation (allergies, medications, insurance id #, PCP, preferred hospital, blood type, etc.) is stored on one page. Each family member can have their own section, complete with personalized information and their photo. A medical ID can actually be printed with all the information via the website for iEmergency. It is only available for iOS devices, and it is $2.99. If your child has an iTouch, this might be a great app to download on there, for those times when you aren’t around.

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.

Remotoscope – Diagnose Ear Infections at Home Using Your iPhone

I found a really interesting new technology being developed by Georgia Tech and Emory University that could make every parents life easier. I’m sure most parents know how fun it is to take your child to the doctor when they have an ear infection. It’s not fun at all.

According to this article by Medical Xpress, Wilbur Lam, MD, PhD has created the Remotoscope which is a clip-on attachement and software app that turns your iPhone into an otoscope. The remotoscope lets a parent take a picture of a child’s eardrum and then send the image digitally to a physician for their review.

The device is still going through a clinical trial to see if the Remotoscope produces the same results as the otoscope.

I’m sure that many that read this will be concerned about enabling parents this way. Although, I don’t see how this is that much different than a parent using a thermometer at home. Like most things in life, they can be abused, but I expect that if used properly this good help a lot of children and save a lot of doctors visits. I hope the clinical trial is successful.

How do you feel about having a remotoscope at home where you could take a picture of your child’s eardrum at home?

Another Great Food Diary App To Consider

One thing I love about posting on Smart Phone Health Care is that when I’m researching for my posts, I come across pretty neat apps or ideas. Awhile back, I posted about some great food diary apps. Tonight, I want to talk about the latest one I have come across, called LoseIt! My interest was sparked after I read this article. The author said he lost 11 pounds in 6 weeks using this free app. After looking at the website and the mobile app I downloaded to my , I’m pretty impressed and going to start using it in conjunction with Couch-to-5k.

When registering, you are asked your age, gender, and how much you would like to lose a weight. You have to select between .5 and 2 pounds, and, depending on what you select, a daily calorie allotment is adjusted to your specific needs and gives a projected weight goal date. For someone who likes to see something full circle before I begin something, this is great, even though it’s not guarantee.

The process is simple enough. When logged-in, the home page is your log, and you simply just click on “Add Food” or “Add Exercise”, and assign a food to the correct meal. The food database isn’t too bad, but isn’t nearly as comprehensive as I found MyFitnessPal.com to be. The food section is fairly organized, allowing users to select from not only the database, but a selection of restaurants and supermarkets. I think that would be nice if you couldn’t remember the specific name of a food from a restaurant but could recognize it from a list.

There are quite a few different options on the website. Personal goals can be set (or adjusted). A variety of reports can be generated, such as weekly summaries, BMI, or a “MyPlate Report”. The “MyPlate Report” basically analyzes the food from your daily reports and shows you if it matches up with the recommendations from ChooseMyPlate.gov.

Users are encourage to use the app with friends, as the website claims “that users with 3 or more friends lose 3lbs more than users with no friends on Lose It!” There are also quite a few forums available for support, tips, or just chatting with fellow-users. I liked the “Teams, Contests, and Fun” forum the best, because who doesn’t like a little competition for motivation?

One of the best parts, in my opinion, about this website is the “motivators”. You can set reminders at certain times of the day to remind you to record meals if something hasn’t been recorded by a certain point. This reminds me a little bit of a smoking cessation program that has been created to help people quit smoking by sending motivational reminders throughout the day. I could see these reminders being helpful if a person knows when weak times are.

The app is easy to use but nothing too fancy. It’s simple to see how many calories are left for the day, as well as view a weekly report.

Overall, it seems like another great option for a food diary, but I think for the time being, I will stick with the MyFitnessPal platform. Fortunately, this is a free app that is available both for and iOS.

Must Have Pregnancy Mobile Apps

Every time I went to a doctor’s appointment while I was pregnant, I always came prepped with a list of concerns. Mainly, diseases I was convinced I had, or things I thought must be wrong with my baby. My doctor would always kind of laugh and asked me where I came up with some things, to which I replied, the Internet. One time, after I went on and on about how I must have listeria because I ate a piece of canteloupe during an outbreak, he told me, “Listen, the Internet is for sports scores and the weather. NOTHING ELSE.”

But my doctor never said anything about medical apps on smartphones. Because I use my smartphone for just about everything, I downloaded tons of apps concerning pregnancy, particularly health during pregnancy. I mean, who knew when I’d be somewhere and I needed to figure out if the sudden leg cramp I had was a blood clot, or, actually just a leg cramp (I promise I’m not as big of a hypochondriac as I’m making myself out to be. Pregnancy just brought that out in me. Now I’m just convinced my son has every single disease instead. ) Here are some great apps downloadable to smartphones (mainly the iPhone) to help make pregnancy go a little smoother (hopefully. Maybe it will just give the on-call doctor a little more sleep at night instead of being woken up by pregnant women with silly concerns).

1. Baby Center My Pregnancy Today

I think this is an awesome app, and best of all, it’s free. I loved this website during (and after) my pregnancy, and it’s nice to have it on the go. It can help give piece of mind on what symptoms are normal during pregnancy, provides week by week information, and tips on how to deal with things like morning sickness (did anyone else have that the whole time, or was it just me?), heartburn, etc. There are also handy videos, pictures, and nutritional guides. It gets down to the nitty gritty of pregnancy, so for the woman who gets embarassed asking the doctor, friends, or family about different things, this is a more discrete way of getting answers from a legitimate source.

This is available on both Android and iPhone operating systems, which makes it a win-win for everyone. I had an iPhone the entire time I was pregnant, and recently made the switch to an Android phone, which unfortunately doesn’t seem to have quite the selection of pregnancy apps (including theBump.com one…which I mainly used to get sympathy from other pregnant mom’s at 3AM when I couldn’t sleep and my husband was at work), so I’m excited I can still use this one.

Download it for the iPhone here.

Download for Android .

2. Pilates for Pregnancy

This one is going to cost a few dollars to get, but has some pretty good reviews with about 3.5 stars. At $8.99 in the app store, the app includes three different pilates workouts — each one designed for each trimester of pregnancy — developed by an actual pilates instructor. In addition, there is a built-in notebook that lets the user record goals, pictures, or simple to-do’s.

Critics of the app warn that there are no videos, so if that is desired, this might not be that helpful. However, others said that the gradual progression of difficulty level throughout pregnancy was nice. One reviewer said “The exercises got harder as my pregnancy progressed but I feel like my back has been supported and in general they feel really good to do.”

I’ll be honest, I have never used this, mainly because I didn’t know it existed. However, I think it’s a handy tool for those times when a computer isn’t accessible or there is no energy left to get in the car and drive to a pilates class at the local gym. I know that toward the end of my pregnancy, I wouldn’t be caught dead in any public exercise class (besides water aerobics with all the other pregnant ladies).

Download for iPhone here

3. Full Term – Labor Contractions

There are a lot of apps out there to time ontractions, but I really think this one is the best, especially because it doesn’t cost anything. Simply just press the start button when a contraction starts and press the stop button when it ends, and it keeps a running total of how long each one was, the the length between each contraction. The intensity of each contraction can be recorded, it keeps a history of all the contractions that have been timed, and charts can be emailed with contraction history to anyone (maybe if a doctor needs convincing that a woman’s contractions are actually as close together are the lady is claiming? I have no idea!). It’s not the fanciest interface, seeing as it was created by a dad who said, “I created this application for use during my own wife’s labor and have paid special attention to keeping the interface as clean and clutter free as possible,” but it certainly gets the job done.

I used this the night I went into labor. I wasn’t sure at first if I was feeling contractions, so I hid under the covers and used it while my husband watched TV (don’t ask me why, but I didn’t want to tell him I thought I was in labor unless I was sure!). Because of it, I was eventually convinced that the pain I was feeling was contractions, and I even told the admitting nurse at Labor and Delivery that my contractions were, on average, 3 minutes and 2 seconds a part. I definitely recommend this one! It also is the only contraction counter in Apple app store that has 5 stars across the board.

Download for iPhone here

I didn’t review this one…but a contraction timer for all you Android users out there!

4. Foods to avoid while pregnant

There are a lot of myths concerning foods to avoid while pregnant, but there are also a lot of things you really should avoid! I wish I had known about this app, because it has all the foods, broken down into specific categories (such as milk and cheese, meat and eggs, etc.). And unlike all the message boards I visited with moms convinced that certain things were or were not okay, this seems like pretty legitimate information. It’ll cost you .99, but it might give more piece of mind while eating out or at a friend’s home for a dinner party.

Download for iPhone here

5. Perfect OB Wheel

This one is simple enough — it calculates the estimated date of conception, estimated due date, the beginnings and endings of the different trimesters (dates in pregnancy really confused me!), and the approximate weight of the baby. This is actually based off of the calculations the obstetricians and mid-wives use, so it’s about as accurate as these apps come. While this shouldn’t replace visiting the doctor during pregnancy, it can give some updates on baby in between appointments! It costs 1.99

Download for iPhone here

LARK: A New Device that Could Replace Your Alarm Clock

I hate waking up to an alarm clock, who doesn’t? It’s not that I hate waking up itself, though I generally would love a little more sleep, it is that jolting, heart-attack inducing, blaring sound coming from your clock, phone, or radio. It is almost like they had a meeting to find the absolutely most annoying sounds on earth and installed them into alarms.

What’s worse is that the stupid thing always goes off in the middle of the very best dreams. You know, the one where you are about to win the big game, perform at Carnegie Hall, or meet the person of your dreams. You just want to throw your clock across the room and try and drift back into hibernating bliss.

There isn’t a whole lot you can do about the second problem because you probably needed to get up at that time anyway, that’s why you set the alarm in the first place. However, the people at LARK Technologies have developed a device, involving an iPhone app, that cannot only wake you in a more pleasant manner, but help to improve your sleep, thereby improving your health.

You simply wear a small wristband, similar to a wristwatch, and set the alarm through the app on your phone. When it is time to wake up the device on your wrist gently vibrates so that you wake up more naturally. There is also a backup feature that is composer created should you not wake up or lose the device while you are sleeping.

The silent vibrations also prevent your alarm from waking up anyone who maybe be sleeping with you, or in the same room as you. I know my wife hates hearing my alarm every morning.

The aspect of the LARK that really sets it apart is its ability to monitor your sleep and help you to improve it. It will tell you how long you slept, how many times you woke up, and can even analyze your sleep patterns to help you improve.

There is also a sleep coach feature that you can purchase to develop a personal sleep plan. This will activate personalized sleep tips and advice to improve your sleep which will improve your performance while you are awake.

LARK was actually developed in conjunction with a Harvard sleep expert as well as a pro sports sleep expert. They are also working on developing the same system for Android phones but there was no definitive date given on their website.

With all of the worthless, time consuming apps out there I love finding ones that will actually improve your quality of life. I know I perform a ton better when I sleep well. I look forward to getting my hands on one of these in the near future.

Though they just went on sale yesterday, the website is already showing that they are sold out. For more information on the LARK and to order one, once they are no longer sold out, you can visit their website.

Health Tech is Next Big Opportunity

Everyone is looking for the next big thing when it comes to investing their money, and Health Tech may just be where that money will go. There is a really interesting article here that goes into great detail. You can find some of the things that I found most interesting below.

They pointed out that many investors that traditionally invest in healthcare are becoming more hesitant to do so as regulations become more stringent. This increased regulations makes the whole process longer and thus keeps the investors’ money tied up for longer periods of time. Generally investors like to get their money back quickly as the longer it is tied up the more risk is involved.

One of the things that is making health tech more intriguing is that there is not nearly as much regulation so the investment time is often shorter. It is also a newly developing field with all kinds of opportunities in all directions. There are apps out there for everything and there is no reason why the healthcare industry shouldn’t take advantage of it.

According to the investor who wrote the article above, companies using game based technology will have the greatest impact on combating chronic diseases. This is not surprising considering the addictive nature of smartphone games. The author specifically mentioned the Angry Birds game which has sold more than 12 million apps. If developers can create these types of games that have healthy influences as a byproduct, there is little doubt that they will impact the health industry.

Healthtech may be a budding industry, but it is growing rapidly and may very well become the arena where investors look to spend their money.

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Apple’s Top 118 Apps for Doctors

Five Helpful Mobile Apps for Radiologists

Chandler Regional Creates App For Premature Baby Parents

Five Medical Apps Every Parent Should Have

Remotoscope – Diagnose Ear Infections at Home Using Your iPhone

Must Have Pregnancy Mobile Apps

LARK: A New Device that Could Replace Your Alarm Clock

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