British doctors may soon prescribe apps to patients

In Britain, the Department of Health plans to ask doctors in the country to encourage their patients to rely on mobile apps to track biometrics and symptoms for a range of health issues, from pregnancy to diabetes — all in hopes of trimming back unnecessary medical visits.

According to a release last week, the Department of Health claims that some 15,000 NHS patients are already using mobile health apps that transmit data to their physicians.