Health Informatics and Technology

Biography

Biography: Ingrid Hegger

Abstract

Little is still known regarding the use, possible effectiveness and risks of the enormous number of available health-related applications (apps). Many people use medicines and might benefit from tools that aid in the use of medicine, but could also have risks. Our aim was to gain more insight into the characteristics, possible risks and possible benefits of health apps and e-tools related to medication use.We investigateda selection of apps and other e-tools (n=116), including their characteristics. We found that a small subset of tools might involve relatively high risks (medical devices - class II and used by patients without involvement of health care professionals). On the other hand, a large majority of the tools (>80%) were assessed as relatively low risk tools (‘non-medical device’). However, the availability of these e-tools is enormous and poor functionality of these e-tools might have negative health effects for users. Since regulation of all the available health apps is impossible due to high numbers and constant changes, it is important for the general public to receive proper education concerning the possible risks associated with using apps and e-tools.