The use of mobile applications is widespread. Every sector of the economy, including health and medicine is deploying the latest apps in an effort to promote better quality and faster services. Whether it is the doctors, the administrative staff, or the patients, all participants in the field of healthcare are encouraged to use the latest mobile devices so as to benefit from the usage of health mobile applications. However, cases have also been reported in the recent past pointing out that mobile apps have limited features when it comes to the complete detection and treatment of health issues. The most important among them have been shortcomings in mobile application usage in the case of dermatology, particularly skin cancer. Let us see how: According to eminent skin cancer specialists over the world, the diagnoses of skin cells that are affected by malignant growths may not be complete with the use of health mobile apps. But the apps have become very popular because they are very easy to use; most applications preinstalled or downloaded in smartphones attempt to detect cancerous skin cells automatically.

As a result of this type of technology, even medical practitioners and patients who are not adept with technology can use health applications. However, one must remember that relying on the smartphone apps for spotting malignant cells in the skin can lead to postponing the patient's curing process by a few days to months as the detection procedure takes more time as opposed to non-tech medical tools. Health apps, designed especially for skin cancer patients, are often termed as being harmful or failures since they are inadequate in detecting every tiny cancer affected cell in human skin. But these apps benefit both the doctor as well as the patient. The problem occurs when a person is not well acquainted with technology; he/she may end up making a mistake when it comes to choosing good quality health mobile applications. Besides skin cancer detecting tools, other health mobile applications have generally shown a 100 percent performance when it comes to diagnosing and treating an illness with precision and correctness. The user of these softwares has to ensure that the apps are certified by dermatologists. In most cases it has been noticed that customers are unaware and end up buying healthcare applications that are not certified, and thus fail to enjoy the easy features available as part of the health mobile apps and also complain about its failure to fulfill their needs. In a report that was released towards the end of 2012, statistics say that even the most successful health apps can be as high as 98 percent successful, which is indeed a good figure in the mobile app industry.

The process of using health apps is however drastically different when compared to the non technical diagnostic devices used in the hospitals and medical research centers. The Mobile apps do not use automated algorithms as is done by their non-tech machine counterparts. Therefore, a doctor and patient must learn the process of using the app effectively before putting it to practical use. The worry among technical analysts after the findings have been observed is that patients with lower incomes may rely heavily on the results of the heath mobile apps. The health mobile applications turn harmful only due to mistakes committed by users; moreover, improvements are also expected soon.