Afgis warning about health apps

Patients should note some important details when downloading health apps

05/11/2013

The health apps market is booming. Hundreds of thousands of applications for smartphones and tablets dedicated to specific health issues are now available in the app stores. „However, the use of this technology also entails incalculable risks because there are no binding manufacturing specifications for producers“, warns the Aktionsforum Gesundheitsinformationssystem (afgis) e.V. in a recent press release.

In fact, the health apps have the potential „to increase the health literacy, to include the patient in the course of treatment and potential savings, for example by telemonitoring“, According to the experts of the Peter L. Reichertz Institute for Medical Informatics of the Hannover Medical School (MHH), the ZTG Center for Telematics and Telemedicine GmbH, the afgis and the Initiative Präventionspartner. Numerous different applications, such as the first aid emergency poisoning app or the migraine app for smartphones, already provide patients with comprehensive support today. Even apps for amateur athletes are in vogue. However, the users should convince themselves before the download urgently of the usefulness and trustworthiness of the apps, reports the action forum health information system.

Health apps contain uncertainties
According to the experts, the problem with health apps is that they are not subject to any binding specifications during manufacture, as long as they are not classified as medical devices by the manufacturers. If the latter is the case, because the apps are advertised by the provider, for example in combination with a measuring device for the detection or therapy of diseases, they are notifiable and a test method by so-called „Notified bodies“ how to submit to the TUEV, Actionforum explains health information system. These apps are collected at the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) and the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI). Here is also an evaluation of the risks. However, since most health apps are not classified as medical devices, no such procedure is required. This has a certain amount of uncertainty for the users, as even black sheep frolic in the market, for example, are keen only on the data of the user.

Check important details before downloading
Therefore, according to afgis, users should be aware of or review some details before installing any of the current approximately 200,000 available health apps. As information necessarily the users have the „Information about the manufacturer (imprint, authors, timeliness of the data), about the product (area of ​​application, version, benefit, size, language, functionality, tests and studies, known and corrected faults, system requirements, costs), data protection, financing (Sources) and advertising (principles), the experts emphasize. If these minimum requirements are not met, users can inquire with the provider in case of doubt. Also, the study of existing experience reports could be helpful.

Health apps can not replace the doctor's visit
Although the health apps can certainly provide meaningful assistance with various illnesses, each user must be aware that they can not replace the visit to the doctor, but merely as an addition to the existing treatment options are assessed. However, the apps also often make it easier for the medical profession to work by, for example, enabling remote monitoring of the patients, thus enabling faster intervention in the event of an emergency. The fact that even more health apps will be available for download in the future is already foreseeable today. In order to protect the users, the experts should, however, actually focus more intensively on the question of how manufacturers can be bound to certain rules. Because a transmission of highly sensitive patient data is to be avoided in any case and not every user brings with it the necessary caution. (Fp)