Health Apps: More Quantity, but Not Necessarily More Quality

#ZEWPodcast Health Apps: More Quantity, but Not Necessarily More Quality

Health apps have long been ubiquitous, ranging from step counters on mobile phones to specialised digital therapies. In the latest background edition of “Wirklich Wirtschaft”, Dr. Sabrina Schubert, a researcher in the ZEW research group “Health Care Markets and Health Policy”, explains what distinguishes Digital Health Applications (DiGAs) from other health apps.

Drawing on her own research, Schubert shows that since the introduction of regulation, the overall market for health apps has seen “more quantity, but not necessarily more quality”: there are more apps, but not more evidence-based offerings – and innovation across the board (for new clinical conditions) remains rare. The discussion covers possible levers for change and how the ZEW intends to focus even more intensively on this field of research in the future.