Future of healthcare research may lie with mobile apps

The high use of mobile technology among health profession has resulted in an acceptance of this technology for research purposes. Out of the 330 UK healthcare professionals polled, 85% said that they would be willing to participate in research in the future using mobile applications.

Almost two thirds ( 62%) of UK doctors own a tablet computer and 57% own both devices.

Dan Brilot, Cello Health Insight’s digital client services director, said: “It’s no real surprise that smartphone ownership among doctors in the UK is high ( 88% versus the national average of 67%), considering most doctors’ socio-economic background. What is interesting is the proportion who use them at their workplace for professional purposes throughout the day. Mobile app research is clearly the data collection mode most fit for purpose for HCP research to align with their high technology use and high demands on their time.”

CHI’s research project The Digital Health Debate involved 330 interviews across a range of different physician types in the UK including 300 GPs. The interviews were conducted online in conjunction with online panel provider M3 Global Research.?