Development and Examination of a Rubric for Evaluating Point-of-Care Medical Applications for Mobile Devices

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.

KEYWORDS:

• Clinical decisions
• content quality
• diagnosis and treatment
• evaluation rubric
• medical resources
• mobile devices
• mobile medical apps
• point-of-care tools
• usability

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Robyn Butcher

Robyn Butcher, MLIS ([email protected]) is Librarian, Department of Family and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto, 500 University Avenue, Toronto, ON, Canada M5G 1V7.

Martin MacKinnon

Martin MacKinnon, MD, FRCPC ([email protected]) is Nephrologist, Department of Nephrology, Horizon Health Network, Saint John Regional Hospital, P.O. Box 2100-400 University Avenue, Saint John, NB, Canada E2L 4L2.

Kathleen Gadd

Kathleen Gadd, MLIS ([email protected]) is Librarian, Library Services, Horizon Health Network, Miramichi Regional Hospital, 500 Water Street, Miramichi, NB, Canada E1V 3G5.

Denise LeBlanc-Duchin

Denise LeBlanc-Duchin, MA, PhD ([email protected]) is Regional Lead of Health Research Unit, Research Services, Horizon Health Network, Saint John Regional Hospital, PO Box 2100-400, University Avenue, Saint John, NB, Canada E2L 4L2.