Patients Turn To mHealth Over Prescriptions, Says Survey

It might be a little hard to swallow, but 24% of patients are more willing to accept a prescription for an mHealth app than a pill, according to a recent survey of 2000 patients by Digitas Health.  The poll covered patients with a variety of chronic diseases, with 60% of active mHealth users diagnosed with their condition more than three years ago, suggesting that chronic disease patients are continually on the search for new methods to manage their conditions.  Ninety percent of patients were likely to accept a prescription for an mHealth app as opposed to 66% of patients who would be happy with a doctor’s order for medication.

Many of the participants were not being treated by a prescription drug for conditions such as respiratory diseases, heart conditions, diabetes, and digestive complaints.  More than half of patients were actively looking for new ways to manage their health, and were very interested in incorporating medical devices and mHealth apps into their plan. [...]