Comparison

Red Book® vs LCAST

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Red Book®

This app provides the latest information on pediatric infectious diseases from the American Academy of Pediatrics. It includes immunization schedules, vaccine status, influenza resources, and new chapters on COVID-19 and Mpox. Features like note-taking and enhanced search aid quick access to essential medical data.

Highlights
  • Immunization schedules
  • Vaccine status table
  • Influenza resources
  • COVID-19 and Mpox chapters
  • Note-taking and highlighting
  • Enhanced search functionality
Features
Read full description

** The Red Book is the foundational resource on pediatric infectious disease** Featuring content from the latest edition, the Red Book: 2024–2027 Report of the Committee on Infectious Diseases from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) provides the most up-to-date information on a wide variety of infectious diseases that physicians encounter in children. Written and edited by leading experts in the field, along with contributions from the CDC, the FDA, and hundreds of other professionals, this resource stands as the most authoritative and comprehensive available. The Red Book features: * Immunization Schedules - Recommended immunization and catch-up schedules for infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. * Vaccine Status Table - Current information about recently submitted, licensed, and recommended vaccines and biologics, including status of the FDA licensure process and related AAP/CDC recommendations. * Influenza Resources - A comprehensive collection of information on influenza, serving as a centralized reference for vaccine guidance, prevention, treatment, payment policies, news, and other relevant details for infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. * Standardized approaches to disease prevention through immunizations, antimicrobial prophylaxis, and infection-control practices have been updated throughout the Red Book. * Two new chapters on Covid-19 and Mpox have been added. * The System-Based Treatment Table has been reordered so that the grouped recommendations by body system are more easily and quickly accessed. * Greatly expanded tables, figures and algorithms enable quick access to essential information. * The Breastfeeding and Human Milk chapter was updated to align with information from the latest AAP policy statement on breastfeeding. * The listing of Codes for Commonly Administered Pediatric Vaccines, Toxoids, and Immune Globulins has been expanded. * Reference to evidence-based policy recommendations have been updated throughout the Red Book. Unbound Medicine Features: * Highlighting and note-taking within entries * “Favorites” for bookmarking important topics * Enhanced Search to find topics quickly * Prime PubMed links to the primary literature Author: Committee on Infectious Diseases Publisher: American Academy of Pediatrics Editor: David W. Kimberlin, MD, FAAP; Associate Editors: Ritu Banerjee, MD, PhD, FAAP, Elizabeth D. Barnett, MD, FAAP; Ruth Lynfield, MD, FAAP; and Mark H. Sawyer, MD, FAAP Powered By: Unbound Medicine Unbound Medicine Privacy Policy: https://www.unboundmedicine.com/privacy Unbound Medicine Terms of Use: https://www.unboundmedicine.com/end_user_license_agreement

About

LCAST

This medical tool aids healthcare professionals in assessing the plausibility of bruising in young children. It utilizes a validated clinical decision rule to help identify potential abuse by analyzing bruise characteristics and body locations. The app serves as a screening tool to inform decision-making and educate users on bruising patterns.

Highlights
  • Bruising clinical decision rule (TEN-4-FACESp)
  • Interactive 3D body model for inputting observations
  • Compares bruise findings to published evidence
  • Screening tool for children under 4.0 years
  • Educational tool for healthcare providers
  • Data based on multi-center NIH-funded study
Features
Read full description

The Lurie Children’s Child Injury Plausibility Assessment Support Tool (LCAST) is an app based on a validated Bruising Clinical Decision Rule (BCDR) called the TEN-4-FACESp. Use of this tool has the potential to improve recognition of abuse in young children with bruising. This app functions only as a screening tool and cannot be used to diagnose abuse. The app applies to children less than 4.0 years of age with bruising. If the child is older than 4.0 and/or bruising is not present, this tool cannot be used. In those circumstances, alternative methods of screening for abuse are needed. WHY FOCUS ON BRUISING? Bruising is the most common injury resulting from physical abuse and is the most overlooked or misdiagnosed antecedent injury prior to an abuse-related fatality or near-fatality in a young child. Bruising occurs from both accidental and abusive trauma, but differences identified by the TEN-4-FACESp bruising clinical decision rule may allow improved and earlier recognition of the abused child. ABOUT THE APP: The app is intended for clinical use by licensed healthcare professionals and providers. The app can inform decision-making and be used as an educational tool for learning about bruising characteristics that commonly result from abusive and accidental injury. The core feature of the app is an interactive 3D body model that allows the user to utilize visual cues of the human body to input clinical observations. The result is the opportunity to compare a child’s bruise findings to the published evidence resulting from a NIH-funded multi-center study. The data that drive the app are based on 2,161 patients of which 410 (19%) were classified by a multi-disciplinary panel of medical experts as abuse and 1,713 (79%) as accident. The TEN-4-FACESp bruising clinical decision rule resulted from analysis of 35 body regions and is 96% specific and 87% sensitive for distinguishing bruising from abuse versus accident. The TEN-4-FACESp has three components based on: 1) specific body regions with bruising, 2) patterned bruising, and 3) bruising anywhere on non-mobile infants. An affirmative finding for any one of the three TEN-4-FACESp components without a clear and reasonable explanation indicates a potential risk for abuse. The child may warrant further evaluation and consultation with an expert in child abuse should be considered. In addition to using the data in this app, the user should always check with a doctor before making any medical decisions.

Screenshots

Red Book®4 screens
LCAST3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Red Book® at 4.8 against LCAST's 4.3. Red Book® also leads on ratings volume (67 vs 8). LCAST's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 2) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.0). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Red Book® sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. LCAST asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Red Book® holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Red Book® has 67 ratings behind it against 8, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 0% and 0% positive.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Red Book® ships an update every 11 months, LCAST every 21 months. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and August 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Red Book® versus LCAST: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRed Book®LCAST
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (67 ratings) — better4.3 (8 ratings)
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings67 — better8
Update frequencyEvery 11 months — betterEvery 21 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.09.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size9 MB146 MB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperUnbound Medicine, Inc.igNew, LLC dba Slingshot

Customer experience

Red Book®

All ratings67 ratings
Positive94.0%
Neutral1.5%
Negative4.5%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral66.7%
Negative33.3%

LCAST

All ratings8 ratings
Positive75.0%
Neutral12.5%
Negative12.5%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Red Book®

One-time2
  • Red Book 32e$99.99
  • Red Book$99.99
None

LCAST

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Red Book® free?
Red Book® is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is LCAST free?
LCAST is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Red Book® or LCAST?
Red Book® is rated higher. Red Book® averages 4.8 out of 5 from 67 ratings, while LCAST averages 4.3 from 8 ratings.
Do Red Book® or LCAST have ads?
Neither Red Book® nor LCAST shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Red Book® or LCAST?
Red Book® ships an update every 11 months, and LCAST every 21 months. Most recently, Red Book® was updated on September 24, 2026 and LCAST on August 17, 2026.

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