Healthinnovations has designed the following mHealth checklist for Quality Assurance when creating apps or devices. Standardisation within the mHealth sphere is paramount for this sector and must be adhered to, to further all innovation in this area. This infographic has been created to be built upon and tailored to an existing organisational or company QA policy. It can also be used when your company or organisation is building mHealth policy.
As with all Healthinnovations benchmarks, these guidelines are open to discussion and innovation.
Hi Shelley,
I really like the way you’ve developed this checklist to help validate/screen the value of mHealth products.
Just a couple of thoughts – a couple of the bullet points could maybe be a bit shorter and snappier to make it quicker to check through.
Also, I’m not sure about the term ‘motivating’ in relation to doctors – this may not cover areas such as education. How about the ‘M’ becoming ‘Mobility’ to cover the portability and convenience issues, which would then allow the ‘T’ to become ‘Target’ in which you could identify the target audience (e.g. patient, doctor, nurse, carer) – just a thought!
David
Shelley,
I think it’s great that you did this. The operative sentence is:
“Standardisation within the mHealth sphere is paramount for this sector and must be adhered to, to further all innovation in this area.”
So, making such a rather detailed checklist generally available to health App developers to facilitate their planning is not a bad idea whatsoever. I will bring this to the attention of those I know who are involved in this business.
Thanks!
Bob
Shelley,
Thanks for taking the time to do this. I think these are all essential points to think about. Too often we hear: we want an app! But it’s important to step back and remind yourself of what you are trying to accomplish and is an app the best way to accomplish it. It’s all about adding value to your target audience.
Another thing to think about — how can success be measured?
Interesting point and highly relevant Eileen. To measure success of a mobile medical app or device is to measure health outcomes. This has acually been managed by The University of Maryland, please see: http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/08/15/bise0817.htm
Welldoc’s diabetes app when tested against a contril group, was found to be more effective than usual treaments alone and motivated patients and doctors to engage more, as well as motivating self-care in patients.
More studies like this please!
Michelle
Hey Bob, You are of course correct, that is the pivotal sentence in this exercise. The WHO saw this when they standardised ehealth with their Global Observatory Series all those years ago and have been instrumental in the benchmarking of ehealth and mhealth world wide.
And what do we gain from quantification of any area, be it a drug trial or an illness. We gain foundations to build upon and learn more about the area without being repetitive.
Standardisation and benchmarking is key for any health research area, why should mhealth be any different?
Michelle
Yes David and this is the reaction I want, take my infographic and make it your own. Tailor it to your own policies and QA.
For me mhealth is vivid and the motivational aspect is as important as the mobility of the app and device. I’ve posted a ground breaking study for Eileen’s comment which not only measured the health outcomes of it’s participants but also linked those health outcomes to what those participants, patients and doctors, were motivated to do.
How would an app or device differ from the usual static treatments, yes the mobility is one important aspect, but what should this mobility promote. The mobility should, in some instances, allow the app or device to be with the patient. Taking their care into their own hands, how do we make the app usable and interactive for the patient. The study also showed a rise in interaction between doctor and patient. Sounds easy doesn’t it but it’s not, using all these check points should ensure this, think about what you are attempting to promote on a healthcare level, making an app mobile is not enough.
To finish, the reason why Motivational was added to the list, is to encompass the very essence of mhealth and why it differs from static treatments and should not be forgotten.
Hi Michelle, thanks for sharing this. It seems very clear and easy to understand.
Have you seen some of the mental health app ideas at http://www.mapsandapps.dh.gov.uk? I wonder how your process above could be applied to these ideas, to identify the most promising ones?
Hi Michelle,
Thanks for creating the checklist and posting it for comments. I like the content and design.
I have a few suggestions to consider: Motivational–add patient caregiver. Instead of “Better Health Outcomes for All” which may not be achieval, replace with quality of life (QOL) from the health section. Additionally, further define QOL as “maintain or improve” and identify the person who benefits: patient, caregiver or both.
Thanks,
Tina
Hi Tina, thanks for the feedback, I can’t believe I forgot caregivers!
Re the QOL, well I feel it would be achievable in this day and age. The obstacles to Better Health Outcoms For All are fully tangible. My thinking behind this is that even if everyone does not use mhealth, we have GP’s freed up and costs brought down to provide more key services by the people who do use it.
I do expect the healthinnovations QA to be further developed, either in collaboration or by QA managers matching it to their own policies.
I really like the design of your site. I appreciate the excellence of the information. You have done a first-rate job. Thank you very much
Hi,
I like this checklist. I’d like to ask if I could use it for a mhealth platform I am implementing in my country.
I am also working on a checklist on how to categorize the many health market innovations and have a way of identifying the innovative ones. I have hit a snag though. Any suggestions? Thanks