Mobile health (mHealth) application (app) store Happtique is seeking public comment on a recently published draft of standards for its app certification program.  

With tens of thousands of healthcare-related apps available, the New York City-based company seeks to help healthcare providers choose the best for their facilities by collecting the most effective apps, storing them in a digital library and creating the voluntary certification program. Based on the work of a physician, a nurse, a biotechnologist and a patient advocate, the standards address interoperability, privacy, security and content, and are not intended to indicate clinical efficacy.

The sheer number of apps “makes it difficult for healthcare professionals and consumers to locate apps that operate reliably, are based on valid information and safeguard information,” Happtique CEO Ben Chodor said in a July 11 statement. The certification program “will address an important need in the mHealth field by evaluating apps along these dimensions. We believe the certification process will lead to the identification of truly high-quality apps.”

Happtique is accepting comments on the draft standards until Aug. 17.