Release Date: June 2025
Registry Therapeutic Area: Mental Health
This registry will function as a directory of apps that have been evaluated and verified to meet a standardized framework of criteria. Meeting these criteria is required to obtain an IEEE identifier for inclusion in the registry. A diverse group of expert committee members developed the multi-point criteria through consensus. An IEEE standardized registry identifier assures stakeholders that the app developer has affirmed adherence to the consensus-developed standardized criteria and has been approved for placement on the registry after review and assignment of an identifier.
The development of this registry addresses a crucial need for standardization and quality assurance in the rapidly expanding field of medical mobile applications. With the proliferation of health-related apps, it has become increasingly difficult for healthcare professionals and patients to discern reliable and safe applications from those that may be ineffective or even harmful. The IEEE registry aims to provide a trusted source of information, enabling informed decision-making and promoting the responsible use of mobile health technology.
The first version of the registry will focus on therapeutic apps for mental health. The prevalence of mental health conditions has risen steadily worldwide since the COVID-19 pandemic began. This surge in demand for treatment has sparked numerous innovations in digital mental health therapeutics, including apps designed to support patients who lack access to licensed healthcare providers. As these digital solutions become more widespread, establishing robust safeguards has become essential to protect patient privacy, security, and safety.
How Do Products Get on the Registry?
The Standardized Criteria Framework
Applicants for the registry will have to attest and demonstrate that they meet set of criteria in three critical areas:
- Technical: A set of criteria meeting accepted technical standards in software development with a focus on criteria that apps are developed with proper privacy, safety, usability, and accessibility considerations. The criteria support developers by outlining the expectations of regulators, providers, and patients concerning the use of medical mobile health apps.
- Ethics: A robust set of ethics criteria that reflect the regulatory and design requirements essential to differentiate between unregulated wellness versus therapeutic apps with a structured, evidence-based framework that encompasses safety, efficacy, transparency, ethical integrity, and responsible innovation.
- Clinical Efficacy: Development of consensus-based guidance on assessing the clinical efficacy (not effectiveness) of therapeutic mental health apps that encompasses statistical evidence-based practice acceptable to the medical field.
Application Assessment
Each application will be reviewed by two different groups to ensure each applicant has met the standard to be included in the IEEE registry. Assessors will include a globally recognized and acclaimed industry leader and a clinical board of SMEs (subject matter experts) with expertise in anxiety, PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), schizophrenia, and depression.
Interested in Receiving Updates on the Release of the Registry?
Who will benefit from this standardized registry of apps?
- Patients and Patient Advocates
- Clinicians/Clinical Support Teams
- Healthcare Administrators
- Healthcare Payers
- Government Regulators (Global)
- Academic/Clinical Researchers
- Mobile Application Developers
- Existing Health Assessment and Rating Agencies
- Medical/Clinical Association Professionals
- Non-Governmental Policy/Public Health Organizations
Program Executive Committee
Dr. Yuri Quintana
Chair
Chief, Division of Clinical Informatics, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Gora Datta
Vice Chair
Teaching Faculty at UC Berkeley, College of Engineering; Chair, IEEE Orange County Section, (EMBS) Chapter; Chairman IEEE Southern California Council
Bruce Hecht
Vice Chair & Secretary
Electrical Engineer in Research & Design, ASML; CEO/CTO, VG2PLAY; IEEE Senior Member; Chair, IEEE Continuum of Care for Connected Health IC Program
Maria Palombini
Staff Lead
Global Director, Healthcare & Life Sciences Practice, IEEE SA
International Multidisciplinary Expert Committee
- Jo Aggarwal
Founder & CEO, Wysa - Zahid Ali
Chief Executive Officer (CEO), TECHMEDO Inc. - Liz Ashall-Payne
CEO and Founder, ORCHA - Shashaanka Ashili
Sr. Scientist, Digital medicine, Founding CEO, CureScience - Elizabeth White Baker, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Virginia Commonwealth University - Simona Carini
Programmer/Analyst, University of California, San Francisco - Chris Boyd-Skinner
Director Clinical Governance, Australian Digital Health Agency - Gora Datta
Vice Chair IEEE Mobile Health App Registry, Vice Chair IEEE Blockchain TC, Engineering Faculty, University of California Berkeley - Kanza Faisal, Ph.D(c)
Applied Psychology, specializing in Clinical Psychology and Neuropsychology - Michele Ferrante, Ph.D
NIMH Program officer, Translational Digital and computational Psychiatry - Nelson B. Freimer, M.D
Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry & Biobehavioral Sciences and Human Genetics, Director, UCLA Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics - Bruce Hecht
CEO/CTO, VG2PLAY; IEEE Senior Member; Co-Chair, IEEE New Frontiers in the Continuum of Care for Connected Health Industry Connections Program - Colby Holliday
Director of Certification, DiME (Digital Medicine Society) - Ava Homiar
Research Assistant II, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard University - Santiago Hors-Fraile
Director of Product, Adhera Health - Amanda L. Joseph
Director, Majestic Global Consulting Inc., Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada - Dr. Becky Inkster Ph.D
Digital Mental Health Neuroscientist; Co-Chair, IEEE Ethical Assurance of Data-Driven Technologies for Mental Healthcare Program; Advisor to Wysa; Cambridge University - Dr. Dimitris Kalogeropoulos, PhD
Chief Executive, Global Health & Digital Innovation Foundation, UK; Health Executive in Residence, UCL Global Business School for Health - Sadia Khan
Assistant Professor at School of Professional Psychology, University of Management and technology - Janel Loke
Assistant Director, MOH Office for Healthcare Transformation (MOHT), Singapore - Taj Magsi
Digital product Manager and Co Founder & COO, DilKiBaat - Narendra Mangra
Transdisciplinarian; Principal, GlobeNet LLC, IEEE Future Networks International Network Generations Roadmap (INGR) Co Chair, Co-Chair, IEEE New Frontiers in the Continuum of Care for Connected Health Industry Connections Program - Dr. Farooq Naeem
Chief Executive, Global Health & Digital Innovation Foundation, UK; Health Executive in Residence, UCL Global Business School for Health - Lance Nicholls, PharmD, ACHIP, FAMIA
President, Lancer Solution - Dr. Marzena Nieroda
Assistant Professor of Marketing and Commercialisation, Global Business School for Health, University College London - Maureen O’Connor Abbott
CHE, Director, Innovation Mental Health Commission of Canada - Yuri Quintana, PhD
Chief, Division of Clinical Informatics, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center; Assist. Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Senior Scientist, Homewood Research Institute - Tony Solomonides, PhD MSc(Math) MSc(AI) FAMIA FACMI
Program Director, Outcomes Research and Biomedical Informatics at the Research Institute, Endeavor Health - Peiling Yap
Chief Scientist, HealthAI
Next Registry Release: Cardiovascular and Diabetes Apps
Each new release of the registry includes a new therapeutic application. The next edition will focus on Cardiovascular and Diabetes. To achieve this, a new set of multidisciplinary experts in the field of cardiovascular health and diabetes will participate in the development of the clinical criteria for this therapeutic app category.