Smartphones, apps reshaping the health sector

Monday, July 28, 2014

WASHINGTON: Your smartphone is not only your best friend, it’s also become your personal trainer, coach, medical lab and maybe even your doctor.

“Digital health” has become a key focus for the technology industry, from modest startups’ focus on apps to the biggest companies in the sector seeking to find ways to address key issues of health and wellness.

Apps that measure heart rate, blood pressure, glucose and other bodily functions are multiplying, while Google, Apple and Samsung have launched platforms that make it easier to integrate medical and health services.

“We’ve gotten to a point where with sensors either in the phone or wearables gather information that we couldn’t do in the past without going to a medical center,” says Gerry Purdy, analyst at Compass Intelligence.

“You can do the heart rate, mobile EKGs (electrocardiograms). Costs are coming down, and these sensors are becoming more socially acceptable.”

Source: Times of India (link opens in a new window)

Categories
Health Care, Technology
Tags
public health