Such Mobile apps are developed, and they are improving health. Besides that, the health care providers must approve the app, and it must be user-friendly and helpful for the target disease.

Guidance on evaluating the medical and health app:

A global exposure to mobile health technology and health applications gives a new chance to create the way health care is managed and provided.

A health app is a piece of software that provides information, advice, and feedback on fitness, health, and the well being. Therefore, it can also be downloaded on any smartphone and the mobile device.

Apps are beneficial as it can help maintain the strength, wellness and as well as assist with self-management and symptoms control of long-term conditions like diabetics, cardiovascular disease, and chronic lung disease.

There are many medical apps available on the smartphone. Besides that, it’s hard to determine which one to recommend to use. Clinicians are often asked how efficient different apps are.

It focuses on two areas:

Guidance for clinicians and consumers:

• Clinicians to determine which app is best to use.
• Consumers determining which app are appropriate to use.

Guidance for app developers:

• Consider a point to develop a new health app.

Guidance on selecting the healthcare app:

There are seven approaches through which you can choose the healthcare app:

• Analysis of the scientific literature.
• Search app websites.
• Search the app store.
• Review the app description, user comments, and
• Conduct a social media query if available patient networks.
• Pilot the apps
• Feedback from the patient.

It is mandatory to follow these seven approaches because there is a wide range of apps available.

Also read: When Healthcare meets AI

Guidance to develop a new app

Developing an app is a time-consuming and challenging task. Besides that, it is too expensive to develop the app.

Before developing an app, the Ministry recommends you to check the Health Navigator app library and online app stores because you need to see if there is an existing app that meets the consumer’s needs.

Other resources that guide the development of health app are:

• NHS library developed a digital assessment question that enables the developers to provide the information and the instructions against the relevant national standard and best practices.
• Therefore at this stage, NHS library appears to be one of the most useful and appropriate information on health care app development.
• The mass scale: it is used as a guide for the development of the healthcare
• Vic health: it provides guidance for healthy living apps.
• Mass scale provides proper guidance for the development of the apps.
• Mass scale also includes the resources for the app developers.
• Mobile medical applications: it provides guidance on which a mobile app regulates and how it is done?

If you are doubtful about the app

Apps are constantly changing, and it needs to be updated and improved. An app is dynamic; it’s hard to be static.

There are criteria through which one comes to know about the app and to update it when needed.

• Analyze the general information about the app. Who develops the app and who owns the app?
• Does the app developer be for medical aspect? What is the cost of the app? Or the app is free of cost?
• Search the areas of risk, privacy, and Is there proper security and privacy for the app?
• Is it working properly? Is there is a need to change anything in it?
• Explore the medical and scientific evidence for the app. Check the efficiency of the app?
• Check the use of the app? Does it require the internet or it can work without the internet?
• Learn about the app, “interoperability.” A user should be able to share the app information with his clinicians.
• Is the data in the app is printable?
• Is the data downloadable?
• Can the app share data with others through electronic health record?

If you are doubtful about the website

• Check the author of the site. Whether this available information is of good quality or not.
• Check the editorial policy.
• Browse through the advertising policy, having ads on the site is acceptable if a clear advertising policy is in place.
• Find out the age of the website. Check it through different sources and most importantly check whether they are the valid sources or not.
• Check whether the sources of illustrations and the videos are indicated.
• Is it linked to evidence-based? Check its resources through which the information has been gathered.

The Rapid growth of healthcare apps

Nowadays, the use of mobile health apps is rapidly expanding, most importantly, in practice.

In 2012, 85% of the adults bought mobile phones in the USA, Where 53% of the mobiles were smartphones. 19% of the adults in the USA who owned the smartphones had at least one application of healthcare app to promote health care and health maintenance.

By 2017, 50% of the mobile phone users have downloaded at least one of the healthcare apps.

With time, healthcare apps are becoming more and more prominent and crowd-pleasing.

There are almost 30,000 healthcare apps accessible to anyone who owns a smartphone. The American Psychiatric Association figure that there are approximately 10,000 apps related to mental health.

Top-ranked medical apps:

For the routine health and proper management of diseases following apps are on the top of the list:

• Fit-bit for Exercise. (App Store)
• Noom Coach for healthy eating and weight management (Google Play Store)
• Headspace for stress management (App Store)
• Clickotine for smoking cessation (Google Play Store)
• Drinkaware for alcohol moderation (App Store)
• Pear reSET® for alcohol and substance abuse (Google Play Store)
• Omada for diabetes prevention (Google Play Store)
• BlueStar Diabetes for Diabetes (App Store)
• Kardia for Atrial fibrillation (App Store)
• Dysrhythmias and Twine Collaborative Care for Hypertension. (Google Play Store)

Conclusion:

With the help of these medical apps. Patients can actively participate in their healthcare by gaining access to health care professionals, health education, and health data trackers.

 Most importantly, Telemedicine apps also provide services such as post-operative care and chronic disease management. Medication apps are beneficial in medication plans, pill identifiers, medication price, and location search. Rehabilitation apps help in follow up plans because there are also wellness apps for nutrition schedules as well as for exercise and fitness sessions.

These apps can go in the long run for the benefit of the patients in their daily life. There is even a proposition of development of the apps in which patients can be involved directly in their health record in the health system along with the health professionals.