The nurse Marc Fortes, from Infermera Virtual, analyses the sector’s current state and how health Apps have evolved.

In the February edition of Flash TICSS, we reported that Infermera virtual was the first App to successfully pass the AppSalut Website’s certification process. In this edition, we interview Marc Fortes, director of Infermera Virtual, a promotional and educational health platform for the Official Nurses’ Association of Barcelona (COIB). A qualified nurse with a Master’s in Education for Health, Fortes has been at the forefront of innovation in health with his app for the last three years. Fortes has an active role in assessing the AppSalut website certification process, promoted by the Foundation.

• • In general, what is the current use of mobility technologies in health?

  In Health, as in other sectors, there is a cross-departmental use of apps that reflects an extension of the apps we use in our everyday lives. In this respect, our behaviour as both users and professionals does not differ much, and we are subject to the developments taking place in our area. You only need to look at the recent Mobile World Congress to see that health apps are in the lead and that 18% of Catalan exhibitors were from the health sector.

  It is the perfect storm: there is user interest, innovation capacity, and health and well-being is one of society’s biggest concerns. It is also important to have a wide-ranging vision of the benefits that some apps bring to health, even though they may not be immediately obvious. For example, using an app to do shopping online when you have mobility issues offers people autonomy. This is also health.

  However, the health sector still has significant issues to resolve, such as data protection, regulations that can hinder citizens’ use of Apps and recommendation of apps by healthcare professionals.

  • And what about nursing?

  As far as nurses are concerned, the use of ICT tools is not much different from the use by other health professionals. We use them to contact people, share information, ask questions and, most importantly, organise shifts at work. There are lots of options, and we have many health professionals who are willing to design, try and recommend apps.

  • What advantages do you think there are in having applications that are certified by the Catalan Health Service? And what advantages are there for citizens and professionals?

  First, it promotes trust. On all levels, having a certification system brings peace of mind, both for the users and the people who recommend health apps. Fulfilling a series of compulsory requirements to obtain certification means that everyone involved, both users and professionals, can be confident they are treading on safe ground.

  Secondly, it means that we have a catalogue of certified apps at our disposal, which users can refer to in order to choose apps that best suit their needs.

  Lastly, it gives the Catalan Health Service a competitive edge over other health services. Aside from the advantage of promoting trust, it is also important to note that some certified apps send people’s health data directly to their Medical Records. This enables patients’ health experts to refer to and check these data, which will definitely provide added overall value.

  • One of the biggest benefits of the AppSalut website is that professionals can recommend or prescribe these apps to their patients. Therefore, this means that professionals are a key factor in the success of this initiative. How willing do you think professionals will be to recommend the apps to people attending a medical visit? 

  I completely agree. Health professionals are essential for the initiative to be a success. We think that acceptance among professionals will become widespread because they will see how useful the certified apps are. As in most ecosystems that have grown up around mobile technology, the services they offer and their usefulness tend to be the most important factor rather than the technology itself. To provide an example, I don’t think anybody would buy a smartphone if it didn’t have applications or services they found useful.

  • What are the potential obstacles? And if there are any, how can they be overcome?

  As far as potential obstacles are concerned, it depends on the capacity of health professionals to include ICT within their tools they can offer and recommend to people they treat on a day-to-day basis. These obstacles can ultimately become contentious, drawing a line between those professionals who use the Apps and those who do not. To minimise these obstacles, I think there are two main aspects to consider: training and commitment by managing bodies to promote use.

  • How would you describe your experience of certifying apps? Has it been difficult or easy, etcetera?

  My experience of the certification process has been, above all, enriching. Even though we have made the process as objective as possible, you end up making a connection with the developers. This generates a process of ongoing improvement and it becomes less of a test that the app passes or fails. Despite this, it is a drawn-out process that forces you to explore all the aspects of an app to ascertain what features of the app’s presentation and content ensure that the information presented to users is suitable.

  • Lately, Inferma Virtual is big news. It is the first app to pass the AppSalut website’s certification process, and you have also recently launched a new image. Tell us about the project’s current status and what challenges you face in the future.

  Getting the Infermera Virtual App certified has been a long process, but it hasn’t been difficult. It is important to highlight that the process did not involve data integration as the Infermera Virtual app doesn’t require it. The TICSalut team has helped us throughout the whole process, and comments from the professionals involved in the certification process have made it easy to make the necessary modifications to complete the process satisfactorily.

  The Infermera Virtual team, Montserrat Sebastià, Salomé Ciórraga and I are all extremely satisfied with the work carried out over the last two years. We have set ourselves a series of objectives and, slowly but surely, we are meeting these objectives. We aim to continue winning the trust of healthcare users and professionals, and it was recently revealed that we are one of the 20 best health apps according to the iSYS Foundation ranking.

  As part of the general concept of promoting access to citizens and healthcare professionals, content is one of our obsessions. This means the new platform design is a step forwards in the right direction and it highlights access to content through a search function. In the future, it will also incorporate chatboxes – virtual assistants that guide you through the process to search for information.

  At Infermera Virtual, we are looking forward to 2019.  In May next year, it will have been ten years since we started producing Inferma Virutal’s first online content, and we are preparing a health festival to bring digital health closer to the people.