Mobile Apps for Home Health Therapy
How do you decide what apps (applications) are useful?
With over 17,000 mobile healthcare apps available today, it can be tough to find the ones that are RIGHT for Home Health Therapists. Below you will find a list of apps that other Home Healthcare THERAPISTS have found useful.
Keep in mind that it is a known statistic that 74% of apps downloaded by people get dropped by those same people by the 10th use. This means, some of the apps below may become your FAVORITE tools and others you may drop after just one use… the decision is in your hands.
Physical Therapy-specific Applications (in no particular order):
1) DOCTOR’S TOOLBAG:
-App for iPhone®, iPad® only ($6.99)
-Included in this App are the following: BMI Calculator, Mini-Cog, Ottawa Rules,
Geriatric Depression Scale, Malnutrition Screening Tool, Osteoporosis Risk Score
-Geared towards physicians
2) CLINICAL PREDICTION RULES—A Physical Therapy Reference:
-App for iPhone®, iPad®, Android® ($39.99—costly)
-Provides a look at clinical prediction rules (CPRs) as they relate to physical therapy practice
-Great descriptions, full color pictures
-Evidence based
3) CLINOMETER/ROM MEASUREMENT:
-App for iPhone®, iPad® ($0.99)
-Found to be the most precise slope measurement tool (clinometer and level) for mobile devices. Can measure spinal ROM, document incline surfaces for environmental assessments
-Inter-rater reliability—not clinically accurate
-For Android® a similar App is available (FREE App!): ROM Measurement
4) POCKET THERAPY:
-App for iPhone®, iPad® only ($3.99)
-Provides specific treatments regimens for 15 common orthopedic injuries
-Provides pictures and video demos of treatments
-Created by an Athletic Trainer—good App for non-medically trained persons including caregivers of patients who may want to view HEP exercises
5) iORTHO+:
-App for iPhone®, iPad®, Android®—LITE version is FREE, FULL version $14.99
-FULL version includes tests on ALL joints
-Joint Mobilization Tests $5.99
– 206 orthopedic special tests and 88 joint mobilization techniques
-Website offers demos on the test videos: http://www.therapeuticarticulations.com/iPhone___iPad_App.html
6) CORE:
-App for iPhone®, iPad®, Android® ($39.99)
-Is a portable, expert reference tool for diagnosing musculoskeletal and orthopedic disorders
-200+ clinical tests with video demonstrations, description and evidence
-Statistical data to back up tests
Clinical Enhancers/Tools (in no particular order)
1) METRONOME:
-FREE App for iPhone®, iPad®
-A good tool for gait exercises for patients with dementia
-For Android a similar FREE App is available: MOBILE METRONOME
2) GOOGLE TRANSLATE:
-FREE App for iPhone®, iPad®, Android®
-Translates words and phrases between more than 60 languages
-Speak your phrase into the App and listen to corresponding translations
3) DICTATION:
-FREE App for iPhone®, iPad®
-Can be used as a voice-recognition tool for working with hearing impaired patients—speak into the App and instantly see your text (much faster than typing on a keyboard!)
-For Android® a similar FREE App is available: STANDARD DICTATIONS
4) MY THERAPY EXERCISE (HEP):
-App for iPhone®, iPad® ($4.99)
-Great App for patients who have an iPad®: provides healthcare consumers with informative physical therapy guidance
Healthcare Applications (in no particular order):
5) MEDSCAPE:
-FREE App for iPhone®, iPad®, Android®
-From WebMD
-Offers the latest literature on Clinical Findings
-Can listen to Audio articles (in the car, on the go)
-Geared towards physicians: very medically oriented
-Offers safety check for medications
-Diseases, conditions and procedures (over 4000 EBM activities)
6) SKYSCAPE:
-The BASIC App is FREE for iPhone®, iPad®, Android®
-This is a good decision-support tool, providing access to the latest clinical evidence
-Can also purchase the full App (expensive) and/or rent books on this App
-SKYSCAPE gives medical professionals access medical resources such as:
-RxDrugs (free): provides dosing guidelines on commonly used brand/generic drugs + provides drug-dosing calculators + pill images.
-Archimedes (free): medical calculator with > 200 interactive tools (BMI, etc.). Organized per specialty.
-Outlines in Clinical Medicine (free): EB clinical info on diseases and symptom-related topics.
-MedAlert (free): Journal summaries on breaking clinical news
NOTE: This is a large application that will take up a good amount of space on your device but this may be well-worth it.
6) EPOCRATES:
-FREE App for iPhone®, iPad®, Android®
-Rated #1 drug reference for U.S. physicians
-Evidence based
-Quick, reliable access to diagnostic info on drugs & diseases
-Medical jargon—not appropriate for patient education
NOTE: This is a large application that will take up a good amount of space on your device but this may be well-worth it
7) WEBMD:
-FREE App for iPhone®, iPad®, Android®
-Useful for patient education
-Decision-support tool—based on symptoms one searches for
-Pill ID tool
-Informative NOT diagnostic
-Not necessarily directed to a person with medical expertise—basic info
8. ICD-9 CONSULT 2012:
-FREE App for iPhone®, iPad®
-Search & browse the complete/current list of ICD-9 codes
-Keep a ‘favorites list’ for common Diagnoses/Codes
-For Android® a similar FREE App is available which INCLUDES ICD-10 codes. That App is: Find-A-Code ICD10/ICD9+GEMS
9) ELDER ABUSE:
-App for iPhone®, iPad® only ($1.99)
-Provides info (definitions, signs, symptoms, actions & strategies) for 7 different types of abuse that occur in the geriatric population.
How can you find out about other Apps that Physical Therapists are using today?
Recommendation: when you are in the App Store purchasing or researching an App, look at the bottom of the screen to see what other Apps ‘similar’ customers purchase.
NOTE: On this date (2/16/2012) there is no governing body or entity that oversees or confirms the VALIDITY, ACCURACY and CORRECTNESS of Healthcare Applications. In our interview with at least one of the developers of an App introduced in this posting, the Apple and Android companies take the ‘word of the developer’ that the data is accurate and up-to-date. We recommend that a user of a healthcare App finds out more about the developers of that App–finding out that the developers are published authors of journals in the specific field and/or are experts in a specific field may bring more assurance that the App contains VALID information. It is our hope that a governing entity for healthcare Apps will soon come to light as there are MANY great healthcare Apps available!
