The Ottawa Rules AppAPP REVIEW

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The Ottawa Rules App

Merry Christmas to all you awesome sports physios out there! This month’s app review is of the Ottawa Rules App which is a simple an effective medical app that is worth a download this festive, summer sports season. The Ottawa Rules are a set of clinical decision rules developed at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute and the University of Ottawa, Canada. The rules have been demonstrated to decrease unnecessary diagnostic imaging and emergency room wait times which enhances patient comfort and reduces health care costs. This medical app is part of a study and according to the authors will be expanded to include other Ottawa Rules soon.

Seller: Size: Version: Category: Compatibility:

Languages: Age rating: Copyright: Price: Ottawa Hospital Research Institute 61.8 MB 3.0.2 Medical Requires iOS 9.0 or later. Apple and Android

English 12+ Ó 2016 Dr Ian Stiell Free

What it is used for?

This app was developed to make the Ottawa Rules more accessible.

Who would benefit from this App? Student and new grad physios, physios with sporting teams, and any health care providers who treat patients with musculoskeletal injuries. The Ottawa Rules included are:- C-Spine, Knee, Ankle, CT Head, Subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH), and Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) Rule.

PRACTICAL APPLICATION

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE >> I know that many of us have used the Ottawa ankle/knee and Canadian C-spine Rules for many years and likely feel competent with our assessment of whether an individual requires imaging. However, it doesn’t hurt to have a handy little app on our phones just in case we need to refresh our knowledge or double check clinical decision making in an acute musculoskeletal setting. The app is extremely easy to use by just ticking a box or boxes (or none) the app tells you whether diagnostic imaging is necessary. I would highly recommend this app for physio students or new grads, and for the rest of us it is a super quick and handy tool to have at our fingertips.

Excellent and simple to use interface with quality illustrations and algorithms to apply rules at point of care High quality videos showing the author applying the rules by the bedside on simulated patients Links to all validation studies for the rules Available for Apple and Android App is free Should help decrease the overuse of imaging for musculoskeletal injuries by making Ottawa Rules approachable to every provider

Medical app lacks some specifics on evidence based medicine unless you view all of the videos or read the linked articles Doesn’t contain all the Ottawa Rules at this point, eg. lacks concussion rule Some reviewers prefer other calculator apps which contain versions of these rules as well as other many other clinical decision tools and formulas.