title: What makes a good clinical app? Introducing the RCP Health Informatics Unit checklist.
abstract: Doctors increasingly rely on medical apps running on smart phones or tablet computers to support their work. However, these apps vary hugely in the quality of their data input screens, internal data processing, the methods used to handle sensitive patient data and how they communicate their output to the user. Inspired by Donabedian's approach to assessing quality and the principles of good user interface design, the Royal College of Physicians' Health Informatics Unit has developed and piloted an 18-item checklist to help clinicians assess the structure, functions and impact of medical apps. Use of this checklist should help clinicians to feel more confident about using medical apps themselves, about recommending them to their staff or prescribing them for patients.
authors.affiliation: Leeds Institute of Health Sciences, Leeds, UK, and clinical advisor on new technologies, HIU, RCP, London, UK j.c.wyatt@leeds.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Jeremy C
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Wyatt
authors.affiliation: Swansea University, Swansea, UK, and expert advisor on IT, HIU, RCP, London, UK.
authors.forename: Harold
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Thimbleby
authors.affiliation: Neath Port Talbot Hospital, Port Talbot, UK, and clinical fellow, HIU, RCP, London, UK.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rastall
authors.affiliation: HIU, RCP, London, UK.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hoogewerf
authors.affiliation: HIU, RCP, London, UK.
authors.forename: Darren
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wooldridge
authors.affiliation: Swansea University, Swansea, UK, and director, HIU, RCP, London, UK.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Williams
mesh_terms: D057189:Checklist; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008131:London; D008491:Medical Informatics Applications; D063731:Mobile Applications / Q000592:standards*; D010820:Physicians
keywords: Donabedian's structure; Medical apps; clinical use of technology; health informatics; mHealth; outcome; process; quality assessment checklist