Complete list of recommendations on design, use and assessment of health Apps

DESIGN AND APPROPRIATENESS

Appropriateness

Recommendation 1. The health App clearly defines its functional reach and its purpose, identifying the target groups of information and the aims pursued regarding these groups.

Accessibility

Recommendation 2. The health App follows the Principles of Universal Design, as well as reference accessibility standards and recommendations.

Design

Recommendation 3. The health App follows the recommendations, patterns and directives included in the official manuals of the different platforms.

Usability/Testing

Recommendation 4. The health App has been tested by potential users before its availability to the public.

QUALITY AND SAFETY OF INFORMATION

Suitability for the Audience

Recommendation 5.The health App adapts itself to its target audience.

Transparency

Recommendation 6. The health App offers transparent information about its owners’ identity and location.

Recommendation 7. The health App offers information about its funding sources, promotion and sponsorship, as well as about possible conflicts of interests.

Authorship

Recommendation 8. The health App identifies the authors of its content and their professional qualification.

Information Update/Revisions

Recommendation 9. The health App includes the date of the last revision made in the published material.

Recommendation 10. The health App warns of those updates which modify or influence the functioning of health-related content, as well as other sensitive data.

Content and Information Sources

Recommendation 11. The health App is based on one or more reliable information sources, and takes into account the available scientific evidence.

Recommendation 12. The health App offers concise information about the procedure used in order to select its content.

Recommendation 13. health App is based on ethical principles and values.

Risk Management

Recommendation 14. The possible risks for patient safety caused by the use of the health App are identified.

Recommendation 15. The known risks and adverse events (near misses) are analysed, and the convenient actions start to be developed.

PROVISION OF SERVICES

Technical Support/Inquiries

Recommendation 16. The health App has a support system about its use.

Recommendation 17. The health App offers a contact mechanism for technical support with an assured and fixed response time.

E-Commerce

Recommendation 18. The health App informs about the terms and conditions on its products and services’ commercialisation.

Bandwidth

Recommendation 19. The health App makes an efficient use of communications bandwidth.

Advertisement

Recommendation 20. The health App warns of the use of advertisement mechanisms and allows deactivating or skipping it.

CONFIDENTIALITY AND PRIVACY

Privacy and Data Protection

Recommendation 21. Before downloading and installing, the health App informs about the kind of user’s data to be collected and the reason, about the access policies and data treatment, and about possible commercial agreements with third parties.

Recommendation 22.The health App clearly describes the terms and conditions about recorded personal data.

Recommendation 23.The functioning of the health App preserves privacy in the recorded information, collects express consents granted by users, and warns of risks coming from the use of online mobile health Apps.

Recommendation 24. The health App ensures pertinent security measures when users’ health information or sensitive data has to be collected or exchanged.

Recommendation 25. The health App informs the users when it has access to other resources of the device, to users’ accounts and to profiles in social networks.

Recommendation 26. The health App ensures the right of access to recorded information and the updates regarding changes in its privacy policy.

Recommendation 27. The health App has measures regarding minors’ protection in accordance with the current legislation.

Logical Security

Recommendation 28. The health App neither presents no sort of known susceptibility nor any type of malicious code.

Recommendation 29. The health App describes the security procedures established in order to avoid unauthorised access to personal data collected, as well as to limit the access by third parties.

Recommendation 30. The health App has encryption mechanisms for the storage and exchange of information, as well as mechanisms for passwords management.

Recommendation 31. When the health App uses services from the Cloud (cloud computing), the terms and conditions of those services are declared, and the pertinent security measures are ensured.