As an avid user of mobile apps currently working in Emergency
Medicine, I enjoyed reading this article (and have since downloaded a
couple of apps!). I have found mobile apps are a useful adjunct to my work
in the Emergency Department, most commonly for checking drug doses using
the British National Formulary app or using a Snellen Chart app in a
departmental bay.
I do think, however, if mobile apps are to be integrated into
clinical practice that there needs to be a regulatory and cultural
revolution. Authoritative signs dictating 'do not use your mobile phone'
litter many hospitals and, in my opinion, have contributed to patients
challenging my use of them. Additionally, there is the cultural perception
that if you are 'checking your phone' you are probably on a social media
site when in actual fact you could well be checking the hospital's
antibiotic guidelines for a septic patient.
From a regulatory point of view, I think at the moment we need to be
cautious when using these apps. Very few of these have approval of
regulatory bodies such as the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory
Agency (MHRA) in the case of the UK. If we are using these apps to
diagnose and manage patients, we need to view them as much of a medical
device as a pulse oximeter.
Emergency Medicine is incredibly varied and, for that reason, is
probably the most ideal specialty to embrace mobile apps. I cannot see a
future for the specialty without mobile apps but I think we need to be
careful and open about using them.
Conflict of Interest:
None declared
As an avid user of mobile apps currently working in Emergency Medicine, I enjoyed reading this article (and have since downloaded a couple of apps!). I have found mobile apps are a useful adjunct to my work in the Emergency Department, most commonly for checking drug doses using the British National Formulary app or using a Snellen Chart app in a departmental bay.
I do think, however, if mobile apps are to be integrated into clinical practice that there needs to be a regulatory and cultural revolution. Authoritative signs dictating 'do not use your mobile phone' litter many hospitals and, in my opinion, have contributed to patients challenging my use of them. Additionally, there is the cultural perception that if you are 'checking your phone' you are probably on a social media site when in actual fact you could well be checking the hospital's antibiotic guidelines for a septic patient.
From a regulatory point of view, I think at the moment we need to be cautious when using these apps. Very few of these have approval of regulatory bodies such as the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the case of the UK. If we are using these apps to diagnose and manage patients, we need to view them as much of a medical device as a pulse oximeter.
Emergency Medicine is incredibly varied and, for that reason, is probably the most ideal specialty to embrace mobile apps. I cannot see a future for the specialty without mobile apps but I think we need to be careful and open about using them.
Conflict of Interest:
None declared