Centre for Research on Health and Social Care Management (CERGAS), SDA Bocconi School of Management, Milan, Italy.
Department of Social and Political Sciences, Bocconi University, Milano, Italy.
Expert Rev Pharmacoecon Outcomes Res. 2021 Aug;21(4):521-526. doi: 10.1080/14737167.2021.1891883. Epub 2021 Mar 4.
: The unparalleled surge in digital health adoption during the COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the potential of mHealth apps. However, the quality of available evidence is generally low, and regulatory frameworks have focused on apps with medical purposes only, overlooking apps with significant interactions with patients that may require stronger oversight.: To support this expanded evidence generation process, we identified the reasons that distinguish mHealth apps compared to medical devices at large and that should differentially feature their assessment. mHealth apps are characterized by the iterative nature of the corresponding interventions, frequent user interactions with a non-linear relationship between technology usage, engagement and outcomes, significant organizational implications, as well as challenges associated with genericization, their broad diagnostic potential, and price setting.: The renewed reliance experienced during the pandemic and the unprecedented injection of resources through recovery instruments can further boost the development of apps. Only robust evidence of the benefits of mHealth apps will persuade health-care professionals and beneficiaries to systematically deploy them. Regulatory bodies will need to question their current approaches by adopting comprehensive evaluation processes that adequately consider the specific features of mHealth apps.
在 COVID-19 大流行期间,数字医疗的采用呈前所未有的增长态势,这突显了移动医疗应用程序的潜力。然而,现有证据的质量普遍较低,监管框架仅关注具有医疗用途的应用程序,而忽略了与患者有重要交互作用的应用程序,这些应用程序可能需要更严格的监管。为了支持这一扩展的证据生成过程,我们确定了将移动医疗应用程序与一般医疗设备区分开来的原因,这些原因应使其评估具有差异。移动医疗应用程序的特点是相应干预措施的迭代性质,用户与技术使用、参与和结果之间的非线性关系频繁互动,具有重大的组织影响,以及与通用化、广泛诊断潜力和价格制定相关的挑战。在大流行期间经历的新的依赖以及通过复苏工具前所未有的资源注入,可以进一步推动应用程序的发展。只有移动医疗应用程序的益处有可靠的证据,才能说服医疗保健专业人员和受益人系统地部署它们。监管机构需要通过采用全面的评估流程来质疑其当前的方法,这些流程应充分考虑移动医疗应用程序的特定特征。
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