At the Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Apps (ORCHA) we have been assessing health and care apps, and digital health products, since 2015. We also help deliver digital health, create assessments for national bodies, and support digital health suppliers.
An assessment involves asking questions about a health or care app, or a digital health product, to see if it meets standards in these five main domains:
We also create systems to share the information we find out about health or care apps and digital health products. These include digital health libraries (App Libraries), formularies and toolkits. This helps give health or care professionals and organisations the confidence to recommend them to you.
As experts in digital health standards, we work with governments to create their own digital health product standards for countries around the world. For example, we helped develop the Digital Health Assessment Framework (DHAF) in the US, in collaboration with the American College of Physicians (ACP) and the American Telemedicine Association (ATA). We’ve also helped develop the Nordic Digital Health Evaluation Criteria (NordDEC).
Through our assessment process, we also help digital health suppliers, such as app developers, create or improve their health or care apps and digital health products.
At ORCHA we want to make digital health safe, sustainable and easy to access for everyone that may benefit from using it.
For more information, please continue browsing our website or get in touch with our team here.
Health and care apps, or digital health products, need to be tested (assessed) to make sure they will be safe for you to use.
There are many questions that we need to answer about an app before they can safely be recommended to you by your health or care provider. These questions include:
It’s important to ask these questions, and many more, to find out as much as we can about a health or care app. This is because using a health or care app can affect your health and we want your experience to be as safe as possible.
An App Library is a place where you can find health or care apps and digital health products that can support you with your health and wellbeing. You can read detailed information about each app or digital health product, based on tests (assessments) carried out by ORCHA.
Your healthcare provider or organisation can see everything in the App Library if they have a Pro Account and suggest or recommend an app for you. Or you can browse the App Library and select one or more apps for yourself.
An App Library makes it easier to make sure you are downloading, or viewing the website of, the right app you want to use.
We make every effort to make sure the App Library is up to date. To ensure this, all apps need to be assessed by ORCHA and updated at least once a year.
Our ORCHA App Library is not part of the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Instead, the App Library helps direct you to the correct listing for an app on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store to make sure you only download the app you need.
To use an App Library, you use the search box or click on the icons for the health topic you are interested in. Browse the app cards and look for health or care apps that may support you with your health and wellbeing.
You can choose and download an app if it’s available on the Apple App Store or Google Play. If the app is a web app, you can click to go to the website it is on.
Your healthcare provider or organisation can also directly recommend or suggest an app to you by sending you a text or an email with a link. Then you can read information about the app in the App Library to decide if it’s right for you.
If you are a health or care professional, you will need your organisation to give you login details for a Pro Account to use this App Library and recommend apps to your patients or people who use your services.
Your care provider or health organisation choose the apps that are in your App Library.
All of the apps in an App Library have been tested (assessed) by ORCHA, who are experts at checking apps are safe for you. ORCHA has been assessing digital health products, such as apps, since 2015 for the NHS and other countries around the world.
ORCHA do not choose which apps go in the App Library, and nobody can pay ORCHA to put their app in an App Library without a test (assessment).
If your doctor or care provider uses an App Library and recommends apps to you, they will know that you are using an App Library. Otherwise, they will not know.
You can download or go to the website of any apps you see in your App Library. To help support you with your care, it may be a good idea to let your doctor know which apps you are using. Then they can recommend other, or better, apps that could help you.
A lot of the apps in an App Library are free to use, but some of them may need to be paid for. Either you or your health provider can pay for the cost of an app.
There are two ways an app may need to be paid for. The first way is paying for in app purchases. This means part of the app is free to use and paying for in app purchases will give you extra features that may improve your experience of using it.
The second way is when all parts of an app need to be paid for. In this case you can pay to use it yourself. But if your healthcare provider decides they want to pay for it, then they will offer you a code for free access to the app.
There are some apps where you cannot pay to use it yourself, even if it’s free, and only a healthcare provider can give you access to that app.
We understand that there may be times when you have a question or concern about an app in an App Library. Please email us at hello@orchahealth.com at any time, and we will be happy to help you.
Application is another word for app, and each app in an App Library is tested (assessed) by ORCHA every year. Sometimes an app will be updated, so we need to review if it should be kept in our App Library. This means we test (assess) the app again to make sure it’s still safe and meets all the standards it needs for you to use it. Then we will update your App Library with any new information about the app.
You can still download the app from your App Library, although we recommend you wait for the App Library to be updated. You can always ask your care provider or health organisation for a different app which is up to date.
You can only find apps in the App Library if they have passed a test (assessment) carried out by ORCHA. If the app you are looking for isn’t in the App Library, it might be because the app:
If you have been recommended an app by a friend, it may not be in the App Library. If your care provider or health organisation has recommended an app and you cannot find it, ask them to send you a text or email with a link to the app.
The App Library does not contain all the apps in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. It only contains apps which we have tested (assessed) at ORCHA to make sure they are safe for you to use.
If you have received an email or text with a link and it’s not working, please send an email to devsupport@orchahealth.com so we can help you.
The link might not work because:
If you cannot find the app you have been recommended in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store, this may be because:
Ask your care provider or health organisation for an alternative app if you cannot get access to the app through the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.
You will need to check if your Apple App Store or Google Play Store location is set to the same country that your care provider or health organisation is in. To do this, go to your account settings in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. You should see the option to change the country to the same country as your care provider or health organisation. Then go back to your recommendation text or email and click the App Library link for the app and see if it appears.
If the app is no longer available, or you need any help with finding an app, please send an email to devsupport@orchahealth.com and we will be happy to help you.
If you have spoken to someone to get a recommended app, they will send you a text or email with a link. Normally you will receive this straight away. If you haven’t received it yet, you should check your:
Next, if you cannot find a text or email with your recommendation, please contact your care provider or health organisation. Check if they have the right email address and mobile phone number for you. Then ask them to send a new email and SMS text message with a new recommendation link.
If you need any help with how to receive an app recommendation, please send an email to hello@orchahealth.com