At present there are more than 2,265 healthcare websites that offer online medical advice, prescriptions, doctor referral, treatments etc. In the US 69 million people visited these websites in July, 2008 according to comScore. The App Store is a simplified solution for most of these sites visitors now. The App Store as an online software store  is also becoming the best way to get maximum benefits for healthcare through the use of the iPhone and iPod touch.

The App Store till date has a total of 145 healthcare and fitness applications. True, there are a few average applications, but there are some really handy healthcare applications for both medical practitioners and patients. Considering these facts, the tag “everyone wants a piece of health and a piece of iPhone,” is not an overblown cliché. Crumbling healthcare system is a major concern every country is facing at present and digital health arena comes in as the solution for dealing with this situation and the best ever solution for taking care of oneself.

Websites such as Google Health (2008) and HealthVault (2007) from Microsoft were launched with the vision to curb the rising healthcare issues, but we know that the response from consumers hasn’t been all that enthusiastic. People are simply not yet open to share their health related information on the public network. Apart from these, a few other websites such as WebMD, Steve Case’s Revolution Health and MayoClinic.com are also getting mixed response from consumers. The iPhone as an innovative device and the App Store with those healthcare Apps seems to be the answer for many people as there is more privacy and security with a handheld personal device.

The healthcare and fitness apps in the App Store are not fully mature of course, and the Apps in themselves do not give ready information on health queries. Most of the healthcare apps are for  data tracking, storing medical information, and the likes. These healthcare apps are thus only handy for the patients and some for their doctors at present. Linking of the already existing healthcare websites and the applications will be the next step and the ideal digital health platform for best results.

Most of all, the best results for digital healthcare system will come when people are begin to trust hosted applications, and distant servers with their sensitive personal information and experience the benefits of storing their medical records in one place. We have the technology and consumers’ positive response is what will take healthcare system to the next level. Healthcare and fitness applications on the App Store will see more addition in the days to come.

See complete list of iPhone Healthcare applications here.