Doctors prescribe new apps to manage medical conditions

Your doctor may soon prescribe you a smartphone app in addition to drugs and physical therapy. Hospitals are developing new mobile apps to help patients manage serious medical conditions and feed information back to their doctors between visits, often in real time. The new apps aim to help with highly specific issues such as recovering from surgery and managing cancer-related pain. Because they are prescribed by physicians and used under medical supervision, researchers say, they stand a better chance of being integrated into patients' daily routines, compared with health apps that consumers download and use without their doctors' involvement. [Subscription Required]