JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Perhaps the health service is one of the most complex existing sectors, and this explains why we are witnessing how new technologies are changing industries, business models and markets in a disruptive way in just a few years or months, while the health sector is slower to adapt to this new environment. Smartphones become useful tools for medicine with the use of specific apps, making it possible to bring healthcare closer to inaccessible areas, continuously monitor the patient's pathology at any time and place, promote healthy habits, and ultimately improve the quality and efficiency of the healthcare system. Since 2020, the use of smartphones has reached unprecedented levels. In fact, in 2021 this use grew by 30% compared to 2020. Moreover, according to App Annie's State of Mobile 2022 report, 230,000 new apps were downloaded in 2021, 5% more than in 2020. The number of health-related mobile apps is starting to reach considerable numbers. There are currently more than 350,000 health apps, according to a 2021 report by the IQVIA Institute, adressed, among other things, to manage patient appointments, communication between different services or professionals, promoting lifestyle changes to adopt healthy habits, monitoring different pathologies, and chronic conditions, as smoking cessation.