The Royal College of Physicians’ Health Informatics Unit has produced a short factsheet on the use of medical apps, to help doctors protect patients.
Produced in consultation with the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the General Medical Council (GMC), the factsheet explains what is and what is not a medical app, what to do if you are using or developing a medical app, and how to report issues or problems with apps.
The guidance underlines two key pieces of advice for doctors using medical apps:
- You should not use medical apps, including web apps, that do not have a CE mark.
- Always exercise professional judgement before relying on information from an app.
For further information and to arrange an interview, please contact Linda Cuthbertson by phone 0203 075 1254 / 0774 877 7919, or on email linda.cuthbertson@rcplondon.ac.uk.
The RCP’s Health Informatics Unit produces evidence and consensus-based standards for electronic healthcare records and communications, promotes and develops health informatics skills and leadership for clinicians, and contributes to safe, high-quality patient care by driving, leading, and enabling greater use of new technologies to support information and communication in care provision.