Method of App Selection for Healthcare Providers Based on Consumer Needs

Area of Science:

• Digital Health
• Health Informatics
• Mobile Health Applications

Background:

• Healthcare providers' adoption of mobile health applications is limited by a lack of systematic selection methods.
• Existing methods often fail to adequately consider the diverse needs of health consumers.
• Developing a robust selection framework is crucial for integrating mobile health into clinical practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To create and validate an effective method for identifying mobile health applications tailored to specific user needs.
• To address the gap in selection tools for health applications, particularly for women's health concerns like dysmenorrhea and premenstrual syndrome.

Main Methods:

• A comprehensive search of mobile application sources identified 2784 relevant applications.
• A user-centered checklist was developed using brainstorming, mind mapping, and persona techniques.
• Quantitative analysis of 369 applications, followed by qualitative evaluation of the top five candidates by application experts, clinical experts, and end-users.

Main Results:

• One mobile health application was consistently ranked highest by all three expert groups and users.
• While consensus existed on the top application, rankings varied among the remaining candidates.
• The developed method demonstrated utility in integrating user perspectives with expert clinical and technical knowledge.

Conclusions:

• The proposed method effectively identifies suitable mobile health applications by incorporating user needs and expert insights.
• This approach supports informed selection and utilization of mobile health tools for managing specific health conditions.
• There is a need for healthcare professionals, particularly nurses, to bridge the gap between user needs and expert evaluations in mobile health app selection.