4 Digital Healthcare Trends Worth Following

Featured article by Roseanne Luth, founder and president of Luth Research

The American College of Sports Medicine predicts that in 2016, wearable technology will become the number one fitness trend. It’s no surprise that digital tech and fitness are merging. Today’s health and fitness industries are becoming more and more digitally-oriented, from apps that count your calories, to ones that monitor your heart-rate – there’s no end to the possibilities. Interested in learning more about what’s trending the current state of digital healthcare? Take a look at these original statistics from Luth Research:

PC Users Visit Healthcare Websites Most

While there’s no secret about the abundance of healthcare apps available today, people interested in healthcare are still using their PCs most of the time to access health information. Seventy-four percent of PC users visit healthcare websites while only 67% of mobile users do. However, 45% of smartphone users have a healthcare app installed on their phone so they may not need to visit the actual website when they are going mobile.

PC users visit the following 10 health-related websites most:

• * WebMD
• * Lifescript
• * Quality Health
• * Mayo Clinic
• * Drugs
• * Livestrong
• * Examiner
• * Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
• * Sharecare
• * Everyday Health

Health Conditions Are Searched Most

With both PC and mobile users, health conditions top the charts for the most searched healthcare categories. Sixty-eight percent of PC users and 64% of smartphone users run searches for health conditions.

After that, individuals are most likely to search nutrition information, with 59% and 55% of PC and mobile users searching this topic respectively. The next most commonly searched healthcare category differs for PC users vs. mobile. On PC, medical facilities and services rank third in this list; whereas, medical literature and resources are visited more frequently on mobile.

Users also search for pharmacies, women’s health, mental health, health education and medical training, public health, and men’s health.

MyFitnessPal Is the Most Popular Health App

Of all the health and fitness apps out there, the most commonly used mobile app is MyFitnessPal, which has attracted 14% of smartphone users. This is followed by FitBit, Lose It!, and Weight Watchers Mobile. Other popular apps include Nike+ Running GPS, RunKeeper, and MapMyRun.

While most of these popular apps are designed for fitness-lovers, others like WebMD can prove useful for other health-related tasks. For example, you can use WebMD’s mobile app to search symptoms and access drug and treatment information. WebMD also offers several, more specific health apps, such as WebMD Pregnancy App for expecting mothers and WebMD Allergy App for individuals with allergies.

Wearables Are On the Rise

The data above highlights how PC and mobile users interact with healthcare data online, but digital healthcare is becoming much more than that. Wearable tech is on the rise as well. This year, it’s projected to be the top fitness trend alongside trends like body weight training, high intensity interval training, and strength training.

IHS predicts that from 2013 to 2019, the worldwide market for sensors in wearable tech will increase by 67 million units. While not all wearable tech is for health and fitness purposes, there’s huge potential for using this technology to track your health.

Smartwatches and fitness trackers are among the popular options, which can track your heart rate, distance traveled, sleeping patterns, calories burned, and more. Examples include the FitBit fitness tracker and the Apple iWatch smartwatch. However, other types of wearable tech like chest heart rate monitors and motion sensors can prove useful in the fitness industry as well.

The field healthcare is ever changing, and it’s important for healthcare professionals and patients to stay abreast of the current trends and innovations in the world of personal health – especially when personal health is joining with all things digital.

Roseanne Luth is the founder and president of Luth Research, a privately held market research company founded in 1977 and located in San Diego, California. Roseanne’s commitment to quality is evident at Luth Research, the full-service, client-oriented research firm. With over 300 highly trained and dedicated employees, Luth Research provides cross platform digital tracking, complete custom research support, telephone, focus group, field service capabilities and on-line surveying.