Mobile health applications for health-care delivery: trends, opportunities, and challenges

AimThis study aims to explore the current trends, opportunities, and challenges in the use of mobile health applications for healthcare delivery.Subject and MethodsA review of 427 articles was conducted using bibliometric visualizations to study the intellectual structure of literature through descriptive statistics such as most influential authors, keyword analysis, leading publications, and country analysis. Additionally, thematic analysis was undertaken to explore the conceptual structure.ResultsThe review provides a holistic view of the extant literature by highlighting the current state of knowledge about mobile health adoption. Additionally, using thematic analysis, we identified the following themes: security issues in technology, technological interventions in healthcare, privacy issues in technology, and the feasibility of internet-based healthcare technology which can be explored by academicians in subsequent research.ConclusionThe pandemic period witnessed unprecedented growth in the use of technology for healthcare services. During the pandemic, healthcare organizations were adopting technology for quick and smooth delivery of healthcare processes. This led to a plethora of research opportunities; thus, the literature on this topic expanded. This study aims to provide an exhaustive depiction of current trends, emerging opportunities, and challenges associated with technology usage in the healthcare sector, thus providing insights as well as future research directions.