Meeting date: October 25, 2016
Presenter: Catherine Hana
Citation: Butcher, R., MacKinnon, M., Gadd, K., & LeBlanc-Duchin, D. (2015). Development and examination of a rubric for evaluating point-of-care medical applications for mobile devices. Medical Reference Services Quarterly, 34(1), 75-87. doi:10.1080/02763869.2015.986794
Article abstract: The rapid development and updates of mobile medical resource applications (apps) highlight the need for an evaluation tool to assess the content of these resources. The purpose of the study was to develop and test a new evaluation rubric for medical resource apps. The evaluation rubric was designed using existing literature and through a collaborative effort between a hospital and an academic librarian. Testing found scores ranging from 23% to 88% for the apps. The evaluation rubric proved able to distinguish levels of quality within each content component of the apps, demonstrating potential for standardization of medical resource app evaluations.
Reason for selection: Health-related apps are an areas of app development that is growing rapidly. Not only are there more apps available, people are using them more. As there is currently no regulatory control or certification body overseeing medical apps, it is important to be aware of the benefits, limitations, and risks. Having a way to evaluate them will help us in this process.