Journal starts peer review process–at a price–for mHealth apps

If the rosy future of mHealth apps [study here] is to be achieved, some form of validation and review is needed, but is ‘pay to play’ the way to go?. The Journal of Medical Internet Research has come up with a peer review process which gives, in the words of mHealthNews, “developers a chance to have their products evaluated by “medical and mHealth experts from the JMIR peer-reviewer database (possibly complemented by consumers/patient experts) for a cool $2,500 per app.”  Aside from the price, the lengthy online submission form will give the casual health app developer pause, before running in the opposite direction. IMS Health has had now for nearly one year AppScript, which scores 40,000 apps based on functionality, peer and patient reviews, certifications, and their potential to improve outcomes and lower the cost of care, at no cost to the app developer. Where Happtique went–and failed in certification/curation [TTA 13 Dec 2013]–JMIR appears to be going. Hat tip to David E. Albert, MD of AliveCor via Twitter (@DrDave01)