Digital health is a big area of interest here at Clinical Utility Consulting. Although the semantics can be confusing, we like the term digital health as a broad descriptor of a category that would include efforts described elsewhere as mobile health, telemedicine, eHealth, health 2.0, wireless health, etc. Although this is a big, broad grab bag of stuff, collectively these things have the potential to dramatically change our healthcare system and provide more bang for the buck.
Today, we became aware of a simple, yet elegant, example of using the power and increasing ubiquity of mobile devices to impact health. Thomas H. Maugh II, writing in the blog Booster Shots (LA Times), describes uHear, an app available for the iPhone and iPod Touch. In a brilliant move, Unitron, a Canadian hearing aid manufacturer, has created the free app to largely replicate the primary hearing tests that audiologists perform. While the user is wearing earphones, the app tests the ability to hear tones at various frequencies and decibel levels in order to produce an output resembling that produced by audiologists (simple graph of hearing acuity versus frequency). Mr. Maugh writes that uHear has been downloaded from the App Store by >300,000 people!
Here is a YouTube video from Unitron about the uHear app's features:
Although I can't find any published evaluation of the clinical validity or clinical utility of this app as a screening approach for hearing loss, the approach that the app takes is a novel one. The three domains assessed seem reasonable: 1) hearing sensitivity at various frequencies; 2) ability to understand speech in the context of background noise; and 3) history relevant to hearing ability in everyday situations. The results of the tests identify individuals who may need further assessment of their hearing loss by an audiologist.
When I first heard about uHear, it struck me that this sort of thing might have the potential to be a disruptive innovation that could disintermediate audiologists. Although this might happen in the long run, it seems that this iPhone app results in a win-win situation for all: patients, audiologists, and hearing aid companies. Although it may drive more healthcare spending because significant hearing loss is substantially underdiagnosed, this app seems likely to provide great value because hearing assistance can make a huge difference in people's lives. In this regard, I think this is a great example of things to come as we make creative use of the enormous potential of mobile devices to improve health and wellness.
Additional Information
- uHear Press Release from Unitron
- Further information about uHear from the Unitron website
- uHear Troubleshooting Tips from Unitron
Disclaimer: My fiancee happens to work for Apple. Apple's App store distributes uHear as a free app for the iPhone and iPod Touch. However, we do not stand to benefit financially (in either a direct or indirect manner) from this post. The decision to discuss this free iPhone app was made solely based on its novelty and potential to identify individuals with meaningful and treatable hearing loss.
