A Survey on Trend, Opportunities and Challenges of mHealth Apps

Abstract

Abstract-Advancement of mobile technologies such as smartphones and PC tablets has given a great impact on healthcare systems. The mobile technology offers innovative approaches to addressing complex health concerns. Many mobile health applications (mHealth apps) are currently available on marketplaces. These apps are designed to facilitate various health issues and problems, and are intended to be used outside clinics. However, very little research has been conducted to address trend, opportunities, and challenging issues of the apps. The purpose of this study is to investigate the current state of mHealth. A literature survey was conducted. Major findings of this study include, smartphones will be the major platform for mHealth apps, the number of published software is much higher than published scientific research, current mHealth apps lacking in grounded based theory and evaluation, and security and usability issues are still vulnerable. The findings suggest that involvement of all healthcare stakeholders is critical to the success of mHealth apps.Keywords-mHealth apps; mobile computing; smartphoness IntroductionMobile technology has changed and will continue to change the life of millions of people around the globe. It is a technology which allows a computing device not to be connected to any fixed physical link. Examples of mobile computing devices are smartphones, laptops, tablets, e-book readers, cameras, and so on; the most powerful and attractive one is smartphones. It incorporates all aspects of computing application and wireless communications.Nearly 85% of the world population will have access to 3G wireless coverage, with the half of the population living in areas with 4G networks in year 2017 [1]. The growth of smartphones has far-reaching implications for eHealth [2]. The word eHealth was defined in [3] as "a relation to health services delivery such as healthcare, health system, health sector or health industry which suggests that eHealth refer more to services and systems rather than to the health of people". Smartphones have become a common device in healthcare settings; leading to rapid growth in the development of mHealth apps [4].

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