Mobile Health Apps: Guidance for Evaluation and Implementation by Healthcare Workers

Since app stores launched in 2008, the number of direct-to-consumer mobile health (mHealth) apps has grown to hundreds of thousands. mHealth apps are often unregulated by international regulatory agencies and rarely evaluated for effectiveness, quality, data security, and safety. Evaluation frameworks and scales exist, but the onus of evaluating mHealth apps remains on end users. This best practice review aims to facilitate clinical implementation of mHealth by providing healthcare professionals with practical guidance for evaluating mHealth apps. We searched online for evaluation frameworks, scales, and searchable databases that met inclusion criteria: accessible online, preferably peer reviewed, available in English, and focused on mHealth. Three frameworks, two scales, and two searchable databases met the criteria and are reviewed. Frameworks, scales, and searchable databases generally assess app accessibility/usability, subject/content quality, and effectiveness. However, data privacy/security and engagement are rarely measured, and clinical effectiveness is often of limited focus. Considerations for mHealth implementation with marginalized and international groups are also discussed. We propose evidence-based guidelines and information to evaluate and integrate mHealth apps into healthcare settings and patient treatment plans. To our knowledge, these are the first guidelines proposed specific to integrating mHealth apps into clinical practice. The guidance for making quality recommendations to patients is of high utility to providers and healthcare organizations wishing to support treatment plans and behavior change through technological adjuncts. Future research should focus on the use of evaluation frameworks and scales to improve mHealth implementation and health outcomes.