Table 1.
Articles Dealing Explicitly with the Prescription of Mobile Health Applications
| Authors – Title _ Year of publication – Source Journal | Objectives | Proposals for Improvement |
|---|---|---|
| Fox BI, Umphress DA, Hollingsworth JC. Development and delivery of an interdisciplinary course in mobile health (mHealth). Curr Pharm Teach Learn. 2017;9(4):585–594. doi:10.1016/j.cptl.2017.03.00518 | Reducing hospital readmissions through supporting patients in their use of applications. |
Identifying patients with literacy problems, promoting education, developing connected objects adapted to patients’ literacy level, verifying use, allowing dedicated nursing time. |
| IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics. Patient-Adoption-of-Mhealth. Accessed July 15, 2021. https://www.iqvia.com/-/media/iqvia/pdfs/institute-reports/patient-adoption-of-mhealth.pdf8 | Identifying the conditions for the introduction of mHealth into medical practice. | Involving all stakeholders and facilitating evidence-based development of mHealth apps. Promoting payer and provider recognition of the potential role of apps in healthcare management. Creating a standard benchmark for security and privacy guidelines. Facilitating curation and evaluation of healthcare apps. Integrating apps with other health information systems. |
| Austin RR, Hull S. The power of mobile health technologies and prescribing apps. Comput Inform Nurs. 2014;32(11):513–515. doi:10.1097/CIN.000000000000012014 | Identifying the opportunities offered by mHealth in the field of care for chronically ill patients and healthcare workers. | Developing organizational policies and guidelines on the use of mHealth applications, and integrating these policies and guidelines into nursing practice. |
| Aungst TD, Clauson KA, Misra S, Lewis TL, Husain I. How to identify, assess and utilise mobile medical applications in clinical practice. Int J Clin Pract. 2014;68(2):155–162. doi:10.1111/ijcp.1237515 | Defining the factors relevant to medical app selection, and presenting a framework for clinicians to identify, evaluate, and use mobile medical apps in their own practice. | Explicitly mentioning app references (manufacturer, standards used, etc.). Developing apps centered on patients and practitioners. Introducing mHealth in the training of physicians and healthcare personnel. |
| Terry K. Prescribing mobile apps: What to consider. Med Econ. 2015;92(12):35–38, 4016 | Reporting lessons that others physicians have learned while using mobile apps to help treat patients. | Providing evidence of app effectiveness. Facilitating app evaluation, interoperability with health information systems, data security, knowledge of benefits to patients, patient acceptance, improved reimbursement. |
| Zhang Y, Koch S. Mobile health apps in Sweden: what do physicians recommend? Stud Health Technol Inform. 2015;210:793–79727 | Describing the factors that encourage physicians to recommend mHealth apps to their patients in a pioneering country, Sweden. | Developing evidence-based content, multi-language support notice, security, and privacy. |
| Daifi C, Bahrami S, Kaakeh R, Kaakeh Y. Evolving Frontier: A Review of the Role of Mobile Medical Application Prescribing. Journal of Pharmacy Technology. 2016;32(3):91–97. doi:10.1177/875512251663387319 | Providing an overview of the evolution and environment of app prescription from 2005 to 2015. | Developing stores with evaluated apps, evaluation of app effectiveness using clinical data. |
| Berkowitz CM, Zullig LL, Koontz BF, Smith SK. Prescribing an App? Oncology Providers’ Views on Mobile Health Apps for Cancer Care. JCO Clin Cancer Info. 2017;1. doi:10.1200/CCI.17.0010717 | Exploring the opportunities and barriers for the use of apps in oncology using qualitative methods. | Identifying the challenges to implementation: Responsibility: privacy/data security, response to inputs, liability; Source of technology: institutional branding, involvement of key stakeholders, trust and fidelity; Access: cost, equity; Workflow: time burden/efficiency; Clinical utility. |
| THE IQVIA INSTITUTE. The Growing Value of Digital Health. Published January 11, 2021. Accessed January 11, 2021. https://www.iqvia.com/insights/the-iqvia-institute/reports/the-growing-value-of-digital-health22 | Analyzing the barriers to integration in care flows. | This report completes the 2015 IMS report by assessing the degree of maturity of mHealth app prescription. |
| Ferguson C, Jackson D. Selecting, appraising, recommending and using mobile applications (apps) in nursing. J Clin Nurs. 2017;26(21–22):3253–3255. doi:10.1111/jocn.1383410 | Creating guidelines for selecting apps. | Using a list of seven indicators (with 23 questions) for quality appraisal of health apps. |
| Byambasuren O, Sanders S, Beller E, Glasziou P. Prescribable mHealth apps identified from an overview of systematic reviews. npj Digital Medicine. 2018;1(1):1–12. doi:10.1038/s41746-018-0021-921 | Identifying trusted apps with proven effectiveness in the medical literature. | Promoting the concept of prescribability as defined by evidence-based medicine (RCTs). Identifying the necessary and sufficient conditions for prescribability: evidence-based medicine with commercialization and improved writing of articles and reviews. |
| Byambasuren O, Beller E, Hoffmann T, Glasziou P. Barriers to and Facilitators of the Prescription of mHealth Apps in Australian General Practice: Qualitative Study. JMIR MHEALTH AND UHEALTH. 2020;8(7). doi:10.2196/1744720 | Assessing current knowledge and use of mHealth apps by general practitioners in Australia. Identifying the barriers to and facilitators of use of apps in consultations and to app prescription. | Building knowledge about effective apps and about reliable sources to access them. Developing a list of effective mHealth apps or a library of apps for general practitioners and healthcare providers to overcome the identified barriers. |
| Lopez Segui F. F, Pratdepadua Bufill C, Abdon Gimenez N, Martinez Roldan J, Garcia Cuyas F. The Prescription of Mobile Apps by Primary Care Teams: A Pilot Project in Catalonia. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2018;6(6):e10701. doi:10.2196/107019 | Building the conditions for the implementation of an information system for the prescription of apps in Catalonia. | Recommending apps, promoting telemedicine, verifying patients’ ability to learn to use apps. |
| López Seguí F, Pratdepàdua Bufill C, Rius Soler A et al. Prescription and Integration of Accredited Mobile Apps in Catalan Health and Social Care: Protocol for the AppSalut Site Design. JMIR Res Protoc. 2018;7(12):e11414. doi:10.2196/1141423 | Describing a three-level protocol for the implementation of an information system in Catalonia: prescription framework, interoperability, architecture of mHealth app store. | The experience has shown itself to be feasible in organizational terms. |
| Dufour J-C, Grosjean J, Darmoni S et al. ApiAppS: A Project to Study and Help Practitioners in Recommending mHealth Apps and Devices to Their Patients. Stud Health Technol Inform. 2019;264:1919–1920. doi:10.3233/SHTI19071324 | Proposing a protocol and the creation of an app prescription module for a general practitioner office management software in France. | Building interoperability with the French healthcare system in line with European directives and recommendations. Creating an experimental app store. |