Mobile Apps in Healthcare: Regulations and Review of Their Use in the Treatment of Frequent Chronic Diseases

Abstract

Today, mobile devices, smartphones and tablets have become a fundamental part of our lives, revolutionizing much of their aspects. The combination of a very powerful hardware and the presence of many sensors and instant connectivity with the huge availability of applications for every need, including those about health and healthcare, make mobile devices a powerful tool for the growing and the development of the “digital healthcare”. In fact major competitors in medical and healthcare market are starting to look at the “digital healthcare” and its revenues with great interest. Despite there is a tight control on what is classified as a medical device in the strict sense, today there is not yet clarity on all software applications categorized in health and wellness, but which are not classified strictly as medical devices and which are therefore not subjected to the regulation of medical devices.