Interventions Aimed at Enhancing Health Care Providers’ Behavior Toward the Prescription of Mobile Health Apps: Systematic Review

Background Mobile health (mHealth) apps have great potential to support the management of chronic conditions. Despite widespread acceptance of mHealth apps by the public, health care providers (HCPs) are reluctant to prescribe or recommend such apps to their patients. Objective This study aimed to classify and evaluate interventions aimed at encouraging HCPs to prescribe mHealth apps. Methods A systematic literature search was conducted to identify studies published from January 1, 2008, to August 5, 2022, using 4 electronic databases: MEDLINE, Scopus, CINAHL, and PsycINFO. We included studies that evaluated interventions encouraging HCPs to prescribe mHealth apps. Two review authors independently assessed the eligibility of the studies. The “National Institute of Health’s quality assessment tool for before-and-after (pretest-posttest design) studies with no control group” and “the mixed methods appraisal tool (MMAT)” were used to assess the methodological quality. Owing to high levels of heterogeneity between interventions, measures of practice change, specialties of HCPs, and modes of delivery, we conducted a qualitative analysis. We adopted the behavior change wheel as a framework for classifying the included interventions according to intervention functions. Results In total, 11 studies were included in this review. Most of the studies reported positive findings, with improvements in a number of outcomes, including increased knowledge of mHealth apps among clinicians, improved self-efficacy or confidence in prescribing, and an increased number of mHealth app prescriptions. On the basis of the behavior change wheel, 9 studies reported elements of environmental restructuring such as providing HCPs with lists of apps, technological systems, time, and resources. Furthermore, 9 studies included elements of education, particularly workshops, class lectures, individual sessions with HCPs, videos, or toolkits. Furthermore, training was incorporated in 8 studies using case studies or scenarios or app appraisal tools. Coercion and restriction were not reported in any of the interventions included. The quality of the studies was high in relation to the clarity of aims, interventions, and outcomes but weaker in terms of sample size, power calculations, and duration of follow-up. Conclusions This study identified interventions to encourage app prescriptions by HCPs. Recommendations for future research should consider previously unexplored intervention functions such as restrictions and coercion. The findings of this review can help inform mHealth providers and policy makers regarding the key intervention strategies impacting mHealth prescriptions and assist them in making informed decisions to encourage this adoption.