
How Mental Health Apps Are Regulated-or Are They?
Is there clinical evidence for the use of digital tools like smartphone apps for schizophrenia and other psychiatric illnesses?
Are smartphone apps as effective as many companies claim? I will be presenting at APA 2016 in a workshop titled “Smartphones, Sensors, and Mobile Mental Health: Regulations, Research, and Real Life.” The workshop will look at the current state of clinical evidence for the use of digital tools like smartphone apps for schizophrenia and other psychiatric illnesses.
We will also explore strategies that participants can use to identify potentially useful apps and avoid dangerous ones. The goal is to demonstrate that with a little knowledge, clinicians can become savvy about if, how, and when to use (or not use) these digital tools in their practices.
Here are some questions to prepare you to educate your patients on common issues in digital technology.
True or false? Mental health apps are subject to strict regulations (eg, HIPAA) and therefore they safeguard my patients’ private health data.
Answer: False. The majority of health care apps, including those for mental health, actually fall outside of HIPAA. These apps are under no obligation to protect your patients’ health data and many may actually make money by selling or marketing that data.
Always check the privacy policy of any app you are using with patients. To learn more, consider reading
Be careful to look at any app you are recommending to a patient to ensure it does what it says and is following best standards of care-as many are not.
True or False? Smartphone apps for mental health do not offer my patient easy access to evidenced-based care and are not required to meet rigorous standards for approval on the Apple and Android stores.
Answer: True.
While an app has to meet certain technical standards to be on the Apple or Android stores, there is no clinical testing required for an app to be approved. The vast majority of apps that are available for download directly to patients have never been clinically tested or validated.
Be careful to look at any app you are recommending to a patient to ensure it does what it says and is following best standards of care-as many are not!
True or False? Some smartphone apps may be ineffective, but at least they cannot cause my patient harm.
Answer: False.
Many apps are poorly designed and never studied; some contain dangerous information; and others offer harmful recommendations.
For example,
Apps designed to help users cut back on drinking have been found to actually
Disclosures:
Dr Torous is a presenter at APA 2016 and the Digital Psychiatry Editor at Psychiatric Times.
References:
1. Glenn T, Monteith S. Privacy in the digital world: medical and health data outside of HIPAA protections. Curr Psychiatry Rep. 2014;16:494.
2. Mani M, Kavanagh DJ, Hides L, Stoyanov SR. Review and Evaluation of Mindfulness-Based iPhone Apps. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2015;3:e82.
3. Firth J, Torous J. Smartphone Apps for Schizophrenia: A Systematic Review. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2015;3:e102.
4. Nicholas J, Larsen ME, Proudfoot J, Christensen H. Mobile Apps for Bipolar Disorder: A Systematic Review of Features and Content Quality. J Med Internet Res. 2015;17:e198.
5. Gajecki M, Berman AH, Sinadinovic K, et al. Mobile phone brief intervention applications for risky alcohol use among university students: a randomized controlled study. Addict Sci Clin Pract. 2014;9:11.
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