“When we speak of mHealth, we are designing health

Presentation of a guide to recommendations for the development of health and social care apps

On December 14 the Fundació TIC Salut Social published the first edition of its Quick Guide to Recommendations for the Development of Health and Social Care Apps, developed in collaboration with of CSV Experts, iSalus, m4social la Taula del Tercer Sector, Pasiona and the UPC (Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya). The event took place in the Ministry of Health’s auditorium (Barcelona) which was filled to capacity, demonstrating the industry’s interest in the field of mHealth.

At the presentation, the Secretary General of Health, Laura Pelay, stressed the importance of “constantly adapting ourselves to the needs of our society. We are speaking about healthcare based on people’s needs, for which technology is an indispensable tool”. She went on to discuss the fact that “speaking about mHealth is not speaking about the future, it’s speaking about the present and, in doing so, we are designing it together”.

“We are speaking about healthcare based on people’s needs, for which technology is an indispensable tool”

During his turn, the director of the Fundació TIC Salut Social, Josué Sallent, spoke of the impact of technology on health services. “Today no one would think about offering care services without technology. It is part of our Strategic Health Plan and mobile technology is here to stay”. He went on to invite everyone to pay close attention to the work being  done at the FTSS. “At the foundation, we will continue to work to create new, improved initiatives. I invite everyone to come along to the next Mobile World Congress and discover what 5G technology can do for hospital care”.

Ariadna Rius, Head of the FTSS’ Office of Interoperability, was in charge of presenting the guide. Security and data processing was one of the sections which aroused the most interest during the round of  questions, as well as the need to consider aspects covered in the guide from the beginning. “As with standards, it is important to take these recommendations into account at the beginning of an app’s development”, Rius declared. She also recognised the need to create a guide of this kind “to respond to the needs of companies enquire as to which criteria they need to take into account”.

“We’ve created this guide to respond to the needs of companies enquire as to which criteria they need to take into account”

The publication of the guide goes hand in hand with the Fundació TIC Salut Social’s Accreditation Model. Adrià Garcia, the FTSS’ head of communication, was responsible for contextualizing the mHealth environment in which the foundation works. “We have an mHealth office at the service of the sector. At the start of each year, we will publish a directory of health and social apps in order to see which are the most relevant applications in each area. The office is in charge of listening to our sector and is the gateway for projects involving mobile technology”. He took the opportunity to give an overview of the various steps an app must go through in order to be approved, involving a series of criteria which are freely available to the public on the foundation’s website. Finally, Garcia thanked the collaboration of the committee of experts drawn from members of official organisations such as: COMB, COPFLEFC, COIB, SCEPC, AiFICC and CAMFIC, who helped evaluate the quality of the content and the usefulness of the functions included in the different apps.

The committee of experts drawn from members of official organisations such as: COMB, COPFLEFC, COIB, SCEPC, AiFICC and CAMFIC, who helped evaluate the quality of the content and the usefulness of the functions included in the different apps.

The event also attended by Jordi Arrufí, Director of d-LAB for Mobile World Capital Barcelona, who contributed an mHealth perspective on the sector based on various successful cases. An example, Salus.coop, “a project for expanding and improving control over data management and, above all, empowering the public with regard to their health information and Eyetracking, which allows the use of digital tools and universal access”.

Finally, the members of the organisations which collaborated in producing the various sections of the Guide were invited on stage. They were each given a diploma as a sign of gratitude and a hard copy of the guide. This is what some of them had to say:

• “The first step in creating an app as a medical device or health product is to consider this issue at the beginning of the project, during the design phase”. Josep Hortigüela, CSV Experts.
• “You need to consider which platforms the product will be developed for, since possesses unique characteristics. The users also have different needs”. Antoni Oller, UPC.
• “When creating an app for viewing and editing data, a hybrid solution is best as it means you can balance resources and functions”. Marc Górriz, iSalus.
• “Never forget the user, they’re the one who ultimately has to use the product. Multidisciplinary teams, in which all the players involved participate, help reduce the margin for error and the final cost. Placing the user at the centre begins at the design stage”, Clara Planet, Pasiona.

“Technology must be accessible because we believe in the universalization of these tools as a way of generating opportunities for inclusion”. Adrià Cuenca, m4Social.

• Guia bàsica per al desenvolupament d’apps de salut i atenció social.

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