Apps, Primary Care News

Enhanced version of EMIS App Library launched

IQVIA an advanced digital health prescribing, monitoring and studies platform has collaborated with EMIS Health to launch an enhanced version of the EMIS App Library.

The collaboration enables GPs, clinical pharmacists and other clinical staff to find and recommend high quality, critically validated digital health apps to patients through EMIS Web.

EMIS App Library recommends those apps currently listed on the NHS Apps Library and those which pass strict evaluation criteria based on NHS Digital’s Digital Assessment Questions (DAQs).

When clinicians recommend a digital health app, the patient immediately receives a text to their mobile phone or email directing them to download it.

Brian Clancy, Co-Lead & Associate Director,  IQVIA  “We have partnered with EMIS Health to immediately make EMIS App Library by AppScript® available to all GPs using EMIS Web in England, representing 58% of GP Practices. Together with complementary developments coming from the NHS, such as NHS Digital’s Digital Assessment Questionnaire (an app quality assessment standard), the NHS Apps Library (a listing of high quality digital health apps) and accelerated NHS commissioning activity of digital therapeutics (providing NHS patients with access to digital therapeutics), the availability of a national distribution infrastructure for digital therapeutics makes the UK the best market in the world to develop, launch, and scale these important medical innovations.”

Currently, nine apps are available through the EMIS App Library service on a national basis, including; Be Mindful, a mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MCBT) which has shown to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression; Pzizz for people seeking to improve their sleep and ReacT2D for prediabetics seeking to lower their weight and potentially their diabetes risk, as well as regional deployments of commissioned digital therapeutics including Sleepio for people with sleep problems and Liva Healthcare for people with newly diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes.

Digital Health apps have been shown to improve patients’ clinical outcomes in randomised controlled trials across 27 different therapy areas including: diabetes, anxiety, depression, cancer and respiratory conditions.

Dr Shaun O’Hanlon, Chief Medical Officer of EMIS Group “The EMIS App Library will offer busy GPs the opportunity to recommend trusted healthcare apps to patients. It’s part of our wider partner ecosystem, connecting software and services from more than 100 specialist partner organisations to deliver efficiencies in healthcare and better patient outcomes.”

Richard Latham, Managing Director of Wellmind Media Ltd., the developer of Be Mindful, commented “We’re delighted that the Be Mindful online course is included in EMIS App Library by AppScript®. We’ve observed over the years that people who are actively recommended Be Mindful by a clinician as an intervention for stress, anxiety or depression have far better engagement with the course than those who join it through other channels. These course participants are more motivated to carry out the mindfulness practices and home work that are necessary to enjoy the full benefits of Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). So for us, this is a highly significant opportunity to generate mental health recovery outcomes at a much larger scale.”