Useful health apps: Study examines opportunities and risks of health apps

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How should health apps be judged? The nationwide first large scientific inventory of health apps provides recommendations for dealing with the little helpers. 

Whether for weight control, fitness tracking or as a complex program for the diagnosis and therapy of certain diseases: the market for health apps is growing. There are now more than 100,000 of these applications for smartphones and tablets. "Basically, the evidence on the subject is thin, which makes an objective assessment of the benefits of the technology extremely difficult," explains Dr. Urs-Vito Albrecht, deputy head of the Peter L. Reichertz Institute for Medical Informatics at the Technical University of Braunschweig and the Hannover Medical School (MHH), in a press release. "We cannot expect that every user can assess the quality and trustworthiness of an app without assistance."

Exploit potential and minimize risks

For this reason, Dr. Albrecht together with 18 scientists – including Prof. Dr. Bernhard Breil, whom we recently interviewed on the topic of healthcare IT trends – in the study "Opportunities and Risks of Health Apps (CHARISMHA)" highlights the current framework conditions for the use of health apps from different perspectives. "In the study, we identified options for practical use and recommend measures to cope with the overgrowth of the health apps," emphasizes Dr. Albrecht. "The aim is to exploit the positive potential and to minimize the risks of the applications." The study is funded by the Federal Ministry of Health (BMG) and is available for free download on the study website.

Download the study for free:

http://www.charismha.com

Photo credits: © photodune.net / dolgachov

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