Purpose of App Review

  • to review the breadth of information available in the app
  • to assess the utility of the app’s data for daily clinical use

Introduction

Control of the human body and its functions during surgical procedures is incredibly important.

 

While the surgeon cuts, removes, or changes the body, the anesthesiologist must continuously monitor the patient to assure optimal outcomes. The NHS (National Health Service) Tayside Anesthesia medical app provides access to anesthesia protocols used at the Tayside School of Anaesthesia in the United Kingdom.

User Interface

The Home screen of the app provides a welcome message and invites feedback for it. If the app has content updates, it also provides a notification at the bottom of the app.

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The toolbar gives you access throughout the app to the Home screen, the Guidelines, and the Cache/update page.

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The Cache section allows you to update the app’s content and gives you an idea of the update progress. The updating content is not available to you during the update process.

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The Guidelines section provides descriptions, images, and protocols. This section is organized into perioperative management, critical care, obstetric anaesthesia, and paediatrics anaesthesia, as well as adverse incident reporting.

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Upon selecting an area you are interested in, a drop-down menu shows you the topics available.

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Depending on the topic selected, you are immediately taken to the guideline in PDF format or are taken to a page that describes the content of the topic that also contains in-app links to the related PDFs.

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The top toolbar of the app provides a zoom function, but I have not been able to successfully use this with the files.

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For example, if one of my patients needs anesthesia for a cesarean section, I can go to the Obstetrics anesthesia section and look up information on analgesia in labor, among other topics. I could also look up how an obstetric emergency is to be managed.

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Price

  • Free

Likes

  • wide breadth of topics available within app, including obstetric anesthesia and critical care
  • data presented in PDF format
  • utilization of figures, as well as verbal descriptions
  • guidelines included could be used for patients outside of the NHS system

Dislikes

  • unable to zoom into/expand many PDFs, making them illegible on the iPhone, but easy to see on the iPad
  • inability to email or print guidelines from app

Healthcare providers that would benefit from the app

  • Healthcare providers taking care of patients undergoing anesthesia for procedures, pain control, or who are critically ill.

Conclusion

  • The NHS Tayside Anaesthesia medical app provides PDF-formated copies of Tayside anesthesia protocols. The content included covers multiple anesthesia-related fields, including perioperative and critical care. The protocols are for the use of Tayside students, but the information contained may provide helpful guidance and education to users outside of the NHS system.

Availability on Android:

  • As of publish, not currently available

iTunes Link
Rating: 3.5/5
1. User Interface – 3.  Easy to navigate between screens and drop-down menus of the app. PDFs difficult to read on iPhone.
2. Multimedia usage – 3. Utilizes PDF formatting, color pictures/figures, and smooth transitions.
3. Price – 5.  Free!
4. Real world applicability – 3.  Could be used on daily basis depending on patient population, likely to be used less frequently once protocols mastered.

App version: 1.0
Compatibility: iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad
Requires:  iOS 3.2 or later
Tested on: iPhone 4S

Disclaimer:
This post does not establish, nor is it intended to establish, a patient physician relationship with anyone. It does not substitute for professional advice, and does not substitute for an in-person evaluation with your healthcare provider. It does not provide the definitive statement on the subject addressed. Before using these apps please consult with your own physician or healthcare provider as to the apps validity and accuracy as this post is not intended to affirm the validity or accuracy of the apps in question. The app(s) mentioned in this post should not be used without discussing the app first with your healthcare provider.