165,000 Health Care Apps & Counting: What We’ve Learned & Where We’re Going With Digital Mental Health

With 165,000 health-related smartphone apps available to consumers in the U.S., the question many executives in health and human service organizations are asking themselves is – how do you decide which one is best? But there is more to it than simply selecting an app. Providing access to technology isn’t a real solution to the health care issues we’re trying to address through digital medicine – an app can never be useful if a consumer doesn’t use it. Management teams looking at mental health intervention technologies, such as smartphone and web-based apps, believe those technologies hold promise in providing cost-effective alternatives to standard care. However, to be used and useful, human support must be available and integrated into their delivery. Dr. David Mohr will describe what is known about the design of intervention technologies, and efficient models of support, and future directions for improving the effectiveness of these tools in mental health treatment.