Clinical Educators Faculty Development Module (On-Demand)-There's an App for That

Video Transcription

Video Summary

The talk discussed how to evaluate medical smartphone apps for safety, quality, and usefulness amid the rapid growth of healthcare apps. The speaker introduced the SPACES mnemonic: source, platform, pertinence, accuracy, cost, ease of use, and sponsors. He explained that users should check who developed the app, whether it fits their clinical needs, where its information comes from, how much it costs, how easy it is to use, and who funds it. He also noted the importance of privacy, data security, and whether apps are regularly updated.<br /><br />Additional evaluation resources included Family Practice Management reviews, APA mental health app guidance, and iMedicalApps, which offers physician-written reviews. The speaker then highlighted examples of commonly used apps, such as Doximity, Medscape, Epocrates, DynaMed, Journal Club, CDC-based contraceptive and vaccine apps, Headspace, and educational tools for residency and osteopathic training. He emphasized that apps can support networking, reference lookup, wellness, and education, but should not be trusted blindly. The overall message was that clinicians must critically appraise apps before using them in patient care.

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There's an App for That Recording

Keywords

medical smartphone apps

app evaluation

SPACES mnemonic

privacy and data security

clinical app reviews

healthcare apps

clinician appraisal