title: Evaluating and selecting mobile health apps: strategies for healthcare providers and healthcare organizations.
abstract: Mobile applications (apps) to improve health are proliferating, but before healthcare providers or organizations can recommend an app to the patients they serve, they need to be confident the app will be user-friendly and helpful for the target disease or behavior. This paper summarizes seven strategies for evaluating and selecting health-related apps: (1) Review the scientific literature, (2) Search app clearinghouse websites, (3) Search app stores, (4) Review app descriptions, user ratings, and reviews, (5) Conduct a social media query within professional and, if available, patient networks, (6) Pilot the apps, and (7) Elicit feedback from patients. The paper concludes with an illustrative case example. Because of the enormous range of quality among apps, strategies for evaluating them will be necessary for adoption to occur in a way that aligns with core values in healthcare, such as the Hippocratic principles of nonmaleficence and beneficence.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Emergency Medicine, Psychiatry, and Quantitative Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Medical School, LA-189, 55 Lake Avenue North, Worcester, MA 01655 USA.
authors.forename: Edwin D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Boudreaux
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases and Vulnerable Populations, Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA USA.
authors.forename: Molly E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Waring
authors.affiliation: Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA USA.
authors.forename: Rashelle B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Hayes
authors.affiliation: Division of Health Informatics and Implementation Science, Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA USA.
authors.forename: Rajani S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Sadasivam
authors.affiliation: Department of Kinesiology & Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL USA.
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mullen
authors.affiliation: Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA USA.
authors.forename: Sherry
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pagoto
keywords: Application; Health behavior; Health promotion; Mobile health; e-health