ATA announces new partnership and to launch review process of health apps in USA

The American Telehealth Association (ATA) announced a new partnership with the UK-based Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Apps (ORCHA) to develop a review process for health apps in the USA. It aims to enable healthcare providers, insurers, and employers to provide patients with access to safe and effective health apps. ORCHA has created an automated and intelligent review engine that allows healthcare professionals to assess a variety of apps using more than 300 measures that were developed to build and manage a health app programme in the UK. The ATA will collaborate with ORCHA to create a process that meets the specific needs of the US market. ORCHA found from the evaluation of over 4000 health apps available in the USA that only 15% of them meet quality thresholds. Notably, most apps fail to meet healthcare, security, or usability standards established to safeguard patients.