Five Ways to Ensure Medical Apps Are Accurate and Reliable

by Holly Shoemaker

When designing apps for the medical industry, accuracy and reliability rank as some of the most important factors for users. Physicians, nurses and other medical professionals will want to use medical mobile apps that have accurate and up-to-date information.

There are some steps that developers should follow to ensure that their medical apps meet the needed standards. Those include:

• Working with subject matter experts to ensure that apps provide accurate and timely information.
• Asking questions so developers know exactly how medical professionals will use the apps.
• Testing apps to ensure they work according to the needed standards.
• Making changes based on user-acceptance testing prior to releasing apps to the iPhone and/or Android markets.
• Scheduling release updates to keep apps relevant and incorporating any additional information that will help medical professionals diagnose, treat or communicate with patients. I wrote about the importance of using release updates to keep apps relevant in a previous blog. Readers may find that blog at: http://myuniversalapps.blogspot.com/2011/11/mobile-app-releases-help-apps-remain-in.html.

Concluding Thoughts

Just like patients hold their doctors and other medical professionals to high standards, those in the medical field will hold apps to the same ones. If I saw a doctor using a mobile app to assist in a diagnosis or treatment plan, I would ask questions regarding the validity of the app. Developers will need to keep the above tips in mind when developing mobile medical apps.