When Apple Watch launched last month, there were already over 3,500 apps that had been customized for the Apple Watch. Out of the thousands of Apple Watch apps, hundreds of them are related to digital health — but only a few target actual health care providers and physicians.
Read a prior article about 10 Apple Watch medical app ideas for physicians
I did a search within the current Apple Watch store to see how many apps are targeted towards actual physicians.
The following were the methods I used. The Apple Watch app store can be accessed via the native Apple Watch app on the iPhone. When you go through the categories tab, unlike the iOS App stores on the iPhone and iPad, you are not presented with a medical category for the Apple Watch. So instead I performed a search on 5/16/2015 using the keyword “medical”, which yielded 107 results.
Out of those 107 results, I went through the iTunes descriptions and identified apps that are physician centric. I was surprised by the findings — only thirteen medical apps were.
Vital Values
Vital Values is an app that gives you normal vital signs in various pediatric age groups. For those of us who see pediatric patients, having quick access to specific normal vital signs can be very helpful. The Apple Watch version gives you 5 cards to scroll through — giving you various age groups in each card.
The app is very easy to use and I’m a fan of its overall simplicity. My only issue with the app is the lack of reference data for the measurements given when you go to the information page of the app on your iPhone. I would recommend physicians review all the vital signs first to make sure they agree with the reference ranges given before utilizing this app.
Price: $0.99
iTunes Link
