Research has found that about 20 per cent of users return to an app after the first day they downloaded it but that the average app has a less than five per cent chance of being used for more than 30 days. Furthermore, around 20 per cent of the free apps available in the Android Market have not even clocked 100 downloads.

This is why creativity and engagement is key. Identifying a niche that will entertain, educate or ease the life of the consumer is vital to its success. But in this increasingly crowded marketplace, both creativity and engagement are crucial to differentiate and activate demand but it can come in different forms – from a quirky idea to impressive use of technology.

Take for example, the augmented reality (AR) app called Lungs designed to show smokers the damage caused by cigarettes. Users can control settings to reflect their own experience based on factors such as their age and how many cigarettes they smoke each day; these all impact on both the visual representation and ‘time taken for lungs to recover’ statistic.

Or how about the BeerGut Fitness app, the calorie check book that will assist you in avoiding the dreaded beer gut telling you whether you’ve earned a drink or need to exercise?

With NHS waiting lists growing daily and falling disposable income making private healthcare more unaffordable, combined with an increasingly informed patient base, the market is ripe for the countless new apps and devices actively targeting consumers keen on preventing, examining, improving and managing their health. So the question remains, is this a route more healthcare companies should be focusing in on in 2012?
In a world where audiences are publicly disclosing increasing amounts of personal information about their lives on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks, health apps are becoming more relevant and increasingly invaluable to companies wishing to have a social media presence. However, it is clear that without a healthy dose of engaging creativity many of these apps are destined to fall by the wayside.

* (Source: MobiHealthNews, September 2011).

Facebook Places is now quite a commonly used feature and sometimes people wonder, what’s the point? But there are actually some really useful apps currently available such as those that can help you find your way when you’re lost or those that show you where the nearest cash point or toilet is within a one mile radius; Around Me, Addison Lee and Odeon to name but a few.

It’s safe to say that many companies are jumping on board the LBS love boat and incorporating this technology into their apps, but it’s particularly interesting to reflect on how this has been done in healthcare. Quite recently, as part of their fight against HIV, AIDS and STIs, MTV Staying Alive developed an app called iCondom, which in essence is a condom distribution map. The app allows users to upload information on where they can access condoms nearby. Handy!

Though not healthcare related, we’ve also stumbled across this new gaming app currently in development in the States called Foursquaropoly. It combines Foursquare (another well know LBS) and Monopoly by pulling information from Foursquare and giving players the ability to buy and sell properties as well as collect rent from other people who check into their properties. It’s definitely a pretty innovative way of bringing to life the whole ‘check-in thing’.

Many people don’t value LBS and, at the moment, it doesn’t seem that its real worth has been established in healthcare communications. We now live in a world where pretty much everything is striving towards being online, interactive and personalised to you. Maybe it’s time for healthcare to embrace the potential before we can genuinely evaluate its potential?

We have blogged before about some of the best iPhone and iPad health apps around, and the massive growth in the number of apps. And while it is too early to see what health apps will be available on the Playbook, it is clear that tablet devices such as these could soon be preferred over laptops. They will inevitably also influence laptops themselves, where usable apps are preferred over complex software.

Like the iPhone and iPad, it is possible for anyone to create apps for the Playbook. This means the app market is crowded and competitive and any ventures must make the cut, either by being niche interest or better than what already exists. Apps for healthcare professionals must bear this in mind, but there are still untapped opportunities to help patients manage their healthcare in a range of ways using tablet devices. Neglect this and others will prosper, making the market yet more crowded and more competitive.

Last month, Bristol PCT was the first NHS trust to release an app with the ability to pinpoint local NHS services (through GPS), issue GP appointment reminders and even provide a ‘panic’ button in case the user experiences an emergency.  This is just one of many apps appearing to enable us to live better and healthier lifestyles. Last week, the Mail released their top ten health apps to ‘keep the doctor away’. The list includes a body mass index calculator, first aid guide from St John’s Ambulance, symptom checker and diagnosis gizmo, hypnotherapy smoking cessation tool and even a ‘period’ diary to track the menstruation cycle of women trying to get pregnant. In the US, ‘AirStrip technologies’ are going that little bit further with an app that enables hospital doctors to check patients’ blood results from the lab, monitor bedside ECGs (in real-time) from anywhere in the world and view any data anomalies.

It is with no doubt that healthcare is being propelled into the digital sphere. It makes perfect sense too as whether you live in the UK or abroad, distance and expense is a major barrier to health education, service provision or access to treatments. Having instant, hand-held and remote access to information and services breaks down these barriers. With all these new applications being released, we might see less patients coming through the doors of our GP surgeries and pharmacies (potentially with job losses?). On the other hand, perhaps we’ll see a huge influx of the paranoid worried-well. Only time will tell. One thing is for sure, this emerging technology is providing PR professionals with new and exciting ways to engage, communicate and interact with doctors and patients.

Firstly, the concept of apps is here to stay, no question. Over a nine month period, there were 1 billion app downloads through iTunes. 2 million iPads have been sold in the first two months following launch in the US alone. Yes, the NHS has limited resources and healthcare professionals are unable to get free iPhones, iPads and smart phones from their employer, but an increasing number will have them for personal use, and also use them for work. In other words, there is a huge potential for pharma to begin to develop apps – it’s not going away any time soon.

Secondly, developing apps does not have to be expensive, nor does it need to have absolutely mind-blowing revolutionary functionality. Apps can just be another highly effective way to communicate to healthcare professionals, and potentially patients when it comes to health awareness campaigns and other non-branded activities.

Pfizer is collaborating with Epocrates, who are creating a drug reference app. Clinicians will be able to report adverse events related to the drugs referenced in the app directly to Pfizer. Drugs information is also provided on the app with the aim of ‘enhancing the safe and effective use’ of Pfizer medicines. Other companies will follow, which means ultimately we could be in a place where apps enable doctors to ask questions to pharma companies about their drugs and receive prompt responses. This kind of ‘value added’ service could improve treatment outcomes and from a company perspective, will do great things for customer relationships (if managed well).

The GSK app is slightly more specialist. MedTrust Online, the company they are working with to develop the app, provide specialist data and technology to oncologists. According to a useful Pharma Times article , “the application enables cancer doctors to find and share experimental therapies in clinical trials. It includes a quick search menu based on 12 common cancers as well as more advanced features that refine searches based on criteria such as gender, age or trial status.”

The principles of the oncology app could be applied elsewhere. How many apps cater for specialties in medicine and facilitate peer-to-peer communication and collaboration? There is scope for a lot more of this. There is also huge potential for patient-support apps, and regularly updated patient resource apps.

These first two pharma apps will hopefully give us a clue of the shape of things to come, and help to get the ball rolling.

The first point to make is that quality needs to rule over quantity. In other words, there are already millions (if not billions) of badly designed, infrequently used apps out there. Our impatient click-through culture means high numbers of people may download free apps, but how many will genuinely engage with them? While developing an app might be an exciting opportunity for pharma, it has to do something completely unique or do something way better than what is currently out there already. Say that a pioneering pharma company wants to develop an app as part of a patient-support programme, it is more likely to succeed if it serves a highly specific function to complement the programme, rather than become the programme itself… Simplicity is key. Need some evidence? Take a look at the most successful healthcare apps out there – just search in the iTunes store for ‘NHS Drinks Tracker’, ‘Calorie Counter PRO’, ‘iHeartbeat monitor’, or ‘Bedometer’ (if you’re feeling frisky!)

The internet already provides a wealth of information and to be successful in any digital project – let alone apps – the tactic must be genuinely different and have practical value (content alone is no longer king!) It sounds obvious but with such a crowded marketplace for apps, knowing what is out there will be crucial for the success of any such project. Having said that, there are billions of apps yet to be made, plenty of opportunities, and as yet relatively no competition when it comes to pharma-generated apps.

While it may be painful jargon, there is a solid concept behind Health 2.0. There was even a conference on Health 2.0 recently in San Francisco. In a nutshell, it’s about using accessible technology to help manage health conditions and make easy lifestyle changes for health benefits. As we discussed in a previous blog, iPhone health apps are starting to make waves. The issue is that in many cases, considerable investment is needed to develop apps and this can limit the benefits of such technology to an exclusive population (for example the wealthy and/or the tech-savvy).

This is why the Department of Health approving the Wii Fit is a good example of how Health 2.0 could – and should – work. Not all computer gamers want to actually run in the park, but would be happy to run on the spot in their living room. It works because it easily fits into 21st century lifestyles. It might even encourage sedentary gamers to start thinking about doing real-world exercise if they really start to enjoy it too!