Apple lets medical schools buy mobile applications in bulk

Apple announced a new program aimed at medical schools planning to equip their students with the latest medical apps for their iPhones, iPods or iPads.

The company recently launched an App Store Volume Purchase Program, which allows educators in all disciplines to buy mobile applications in bulk. The program allows app developers to offer the schools discounts.

"I can't overstate how huge this is," said Iltifat Husain, a fourth-year MD/MPH student at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C. Husain is one of several medical students who with physicians run the website iMedicalApps, which tracks and monitors the medical app market (link).

The program applies to apps made for the iOS operating system, which is the standard operating system for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.

Husain said it will further establish Apple as the go-to platform for schools looking to digitize their libraries and equip students with mobile learning tools. He said he has received many calls from medical school librarians looking for ways to make bulk app purchases. Apple had been requiring that each app purchase be on a one-by-one basis.

Several medical schools, including Stanford University School of Medicine and the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, announced plans recently to give iPads preloaded with medical apps to incoming students. The program will allow those schools to shop around for the best price.

Husain said the discount program is also great news for app developers. Many are still trying to make a name for themselves and want to get their apps into as many hands as possible. It's up to each developer whether to participate and how much of a discount to offer. Apple allows up to 50% off.

The program will make the market even more competitive, meaning better prices for consumers and better innovation from the developers, Husain said.

Apple is the only platform offering a bulk purchase program, but Husain said he expects others -- notably Android and BlackBerry -- to follow suit in order to stay competitive. Cell phone manufacturers and app developers would be hard-pressed not to offer discounts because schools can now shop around and go with the platform or app that has the best deal, he said.

Schools must designate a purchaser who registers with Apple's educational sales department to participate. That purchaser can then buy volume vouchers at Apple's app store in denominations of $100, $500, $1,000, $5,000 or $10,000. The vouchers are then redeemed at the volume voucher purchase site, where the buyer picks the applications that are needed.

When an order has been placed, the purchaser receives app-specific codes that can be redeemed by each user at the app store.