Here’s a really NICE app

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence has created an app to give healthcare professionals “quick and easy” access to its recommendations and guidance.

The free app, called NICE Guidance, is available to download now for users of Android and iPhone smartphones, and features more than 760 guidelines, including information on hypertension and stroke.

Jane Gizbert, communications director at NICE said: “For the first time, doctors, nurses and other users of NICE guidance will be able to access recommendations wherever they are.

“The app will provide offline access to all guidance products, including clinical guidelines, public health guidance, technology appraisals, interventional procedures guidance, medical technology and diagnostics guidance.”

NICE is an independent organisation responsible for evaluating drugs and other health interventions. It provides national guidance and standards on the promotion of good health and the prevention and treatment of ill health.

The organisation said it had developed the app in response to demand from clinicians and other users of its guidance.

Guidelines are arranged by clinical or public health topic, and the app will be automatically updated when it is open and access to the internet is available, so that new guidance and changes are incorporated.

Users can bookmark sections for easy access, and email sections to themselves and colleagues. Users can also adjust font size to make it easier to read.

“This is the first in a series of proposed app developments from NICE, which will eventually cover medicines and prescribing information, NICE Pathways and other NICE products,” said Gizbert.

The app works on Android Smartphones, Apple iPhones and iPod touches running iOS 4.3 and above. Users have been able to download the app from Apple’s iStore and the Android market since yesterday (20 March).