There’s an App for That:
Using Smartphones in
Healthcare
Kelsea Gallegos Aragon, PharmD, PhC, CDCES
Medical Apps vs. Health Apps
Health apps help consumers to maintain a healthy
lifestyle or offer health-related services.
Health Apps are targeted at consumers rather than
medical professionals.
The most popular categories of downloaded health
apps are exercise, stress, and diet.
Health Apps - Wellness
Wellness apps for weight loss and chronic disease
prevention may:
Provide education and assist patients in making healthier
food choices, losing weight, and increasing physical activity,
while offering 24/7 personalized support.
Complement efforts and relieve shortages of healthcare
providers and wellness coaches.
Offer payers seamless deployment and enrollment,
scalability, and ease of use.
Health Apps – Disease Management
Chronic disease management apps may:
Support patients in important lifestyle changes
that can help manage conditions.
Promote monitoring and medication adherence.
Facilitate data storage and transmission.
Review Health Apps
G o to yo ur A p p Store or G o o gle Pla y store a n d bro w s e for H e alth A p p s
F in d yo ur fa v orite a p p a n d b e re a d y to s h are it w ith th e cla s s!
My favorite
Health Apps
Medical Sites
Mo biH e alth N e w s
A newsletter that chronicles the
healthcare sector’s adoption of mobile
technology
http://mobihealthnews.com
Medical Sites
iMe dic al A p p s
The most widely read of all medical app review sites, receiving over 400,000-
page views per month. Content is written by a team of doctors and medical
students.
http://www.imedicalapps.com/
F in d yo ur fa v orite a p p fe ature d in “ B e st Me dic al A p p s of 2019”
Please share your favorite app with the class
1. Who is the target audience?
2. What is the best feature of the app?
3. How could this app help your future
practice?
4. Is there a cost associated with the
app? If so, is it worth the investment?
My favorite
Medical Apps
Evaluating
Apps:
A Rubric
The Five Cs for
Evaluation
Evaluating Apps
Creator, Content,
Context, Comments,
Connect
C #1: Creator
C re ator:
• Who made the app?
• Is this individual or organization credible?
• Creator information should be easy to find; if not, this may be an indication of
questionable quality.
C #1: Creator
Individual Creator(s)
Professional developer vs. enthusiast developer
Healthcare professional vs. non-healthcare professional
For profit, non-profit, affiliation, disclaimer, etc.
Doctor, medical resident, medical student
Business entrepreneur
C #1: Creator
Organization(s)
Government agency, institute, etc.
Non-profit vs. for-profit
Well established company vs. start-up company
Pharmaceutical company
Health insurance company
C #2: Content
• What is the scope of the app?
• What does it contain?
• Who is the intended audience?
C #2: Content
Apps that quiz, test or educate via games
TopDoc – a visual medical quiz app developed by Elsevier and
Legacy Interactive.
Speed Muscles MD - a quiz by a developer specializing in medical
education.
Brush It Up! – a game to teach kids how to brush their teeth.
C #2: Content
If you’re going to recommend an app to an audience first, try to categorize
its content and the level of content
General reference
Drug information
Guidelines
EBM resources, Medical textbooks, Medical calculators
Study guides
Educational resources, Patient Education
Productivity (note-taking, citation management, etc.)
Communication tools
C #3: Context
• Is this app easy to use?
• To read? To view images?
• To navigate?
• Does it load quickly? Do I need internet connection?
• Does it crash often?
• Software updates
C #4: Comments
F ro m u s ers:
• What do users think of this app?
• Do multiple users have the same comments or complaints?
• How many people have made comments?
F ro m Te c h E x p erts:
• What do magazines and web sites devoted to technology say about this app or
device
F ro m Me dic al Profe s sio n als:
• What do doctors / dentists / medical students / other Health Professionals have
to say about this app?
C #5 Cost
• There are thousands of free apps, and most paid apps have “lite” or free
versions.
• Many paid apps cost less than $5, so if you are interested take the plunge.
Questions?
