Boston, MA (August 17, 2010) – With more smartphones in use, it's hardly surprising that people are turning to mobile applications for actionable health-related information. Seventy eight percent of Americans expressed an interest in mobile health solutions, including interaction with physicians via mobile and wireless monitoring for a variety of medical conditions. And the WebMD mobile app for the iPhone had 1.6 million downloads in its first three months.

This begins to demonstrate that health industry resource providers -– along with health IT companies and healthcare providers –- have a unique and urgent opportunity to capture the attention of their customers. This opportunity, and the best practices for fully leveraging that opportunity, is detailed in a new report, Mobile Health 2010. Developed by Dr. Mary Cronin and provided as a resource by Renu Mobile (www.renumobile.com), the report is a must-have for those interested in implementing effective mobile health strategies that meet consumer needs and improve patient outcomes.

Following are a few highlights of the best practices discussed in the report:

Best Practices for Smartphone Health Apps

• Clarify the intended use and target user of the application to provide integration with relevant mobile heath resources and options to extend the value of the app.

• Design apps with a keen eye toward user safety and health care data security.

• Example: Healthagen's iTriage App allows access to prescription information and a history of previous care for keeping track of multiple prescriptions and care providers for their family members.

• Text message health information services must be based on explicit permission or opt-in by the mobile subscriber and follow all consumer privacy guidelines.

• Integrate text messages with mobile web resources and smartphone applications and use text messages as a prompt to consumer action – including click to call options.

• Example: Text4Baby allows expecting mothers to receive relevant news and information regarding their health and the health of their baby.

• Make it easy for mobile web users with smaller screens to navigate for site information and services by limiting large graphics and animations.

• Provide a prominent search box and provide search results in a quick review with clear descriptions of each link.

• Example: The Mayo Clinic is targeting all mobile consumers by developing mobile browser compatible web sites that highlight most-used resources.

Mary J. Cronin, Ph.D. is a Professor of Information Systems at Boston College, Carroll School of Management. Her latest book is Smart Products, Smarter Services: Strategies for Embedded Control (Cambridge University Press, 2010). This book analyzes the impact of connected health solutions, mobile and wireless applications and medical devices on the healthcare industry. Dr. Cronin is a Partner at MedHealthWorld and Editor of the SPEC (Smart Product Ecosystem Connections) web site.

About Renu Mobile

Renu Mobile is an innovative mobile marketing enabler that specializes in unique and highly effective solutions that target mobile phones and the mobile consumer. The company is one of the first to specialize in ecologically responsible marketing via mobile phones, and boasts a combined 20 years of mobile experience servicing agencies and brands worldwide. The company presently works with a number of clients across a spectrum of different industry segments, and offers a full-service suite of text message, mobile 2D barcodes and mobile browser products to execute mobile strategies.

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