In this issue

App stores have been dubbed the ‘Wild West’ for digital health apps. Health-related smartphone apps have surged in number and popularity, especially during the pandemic, but they are sparsely monitored. In this issue, we ask if the sector is in need of regulatory reform.

This abundance is especially true for mental health apps. ORCHA, the Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Apps saw a 6,500% increase in healthcare professionals recommending digital health technologies to their patients throughout the pandemic.

However, there could be an area of unmet need seeing as, despite the increasing prevalence of long Covid, there is no evidence of apps dedicated specifically to supporting this patient group.

Digital health technologies have the opportunity to support the so-called 'self-testing revolution' that has been spurred on by the Covid-19 pandemic. The sheer amount of at-home Covid tests that millions of people had to carry out daily in the past few years, has closed a huge skills gap when it comes to self-testing. NHS Confederation CEO Matthew Taylor discusses this revolution in personalised and self-managed medicine and its implications.

Keep reading for all the latest medical device industry news, comment, data and analysis from GlobalData.

Kezia Parkins, editor