ORCHA

Digital health apps can be an engaging and empowering way for people to take an active role in their care, but they also come with a risk. With over 350,000 health apps available and only 20% meeting safety standards, how can we know if an app is safe to use?

The Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Apps (ORCHA) is dedicated to advancing digital health through the assessment and evaluation of health and care apps. An assessment involves asking questions about an app, or a digital health product, to see if it meets standards in these five main domains:

• Data and privacy – How safe your private information is, and what happens to it
• Professional assurance and clinical safety – If a health or care professional thinks it’s safe and can support your health, and if there is evidence to support that
• Usability and accessibility – How easy it is to use for the age and ability of a person
• Interoperability – How well it can connect with an existing system
• Technical security and stability – How well it works and if it can be hacked

The ORCHA website below provides a library of heath apps that have met these safety standards.

• Visit the ORCHA website