Mayo Clinic has 14 apps for the iPad and 15 on the iPhone.
Until Monday, none of the free mobile medical apps were specifically meant for patients. The three free ones were mainly for doctors, alumni and people interested in medical research).
In a phone interview, Dr. Sidna Tulledge-Scheitel, associate dean of e-health and medical director of Institutional Business Solutions, said that the new Mayo Clinic Patient app is “unique” compared to what Mayo has in the App Store in that it is free and centered around the patient.
The app aims to connect with patients from the time they are simply seeking for information about Mayo, to their first visit to any of the three campuses and finally when they become an established patient at Mayo.
It is divided into several sections entitled Mayo Clinic Information, Our Locations, My Visit, My Health and My Care Team And then each section has various sub sections. For instance, clicking on the My Health section opens up the section through which established patients with registered accounts can check their medical record, refill prescriptions and get health recommendations.
Under the My Care Team section, patients can connect with their primary care provider, send secure messages to the care team and view notifications sent to them. The My Visit section is specifically for patients who have set up appointments and can only be accessed with a log in.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
There are also maps for each Mayo location in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota as well as information about the local community including activities and restaurants
Scheitel of Mayo said that the app is meant to empower patients and “aligns with Mayo’s mission of trying to make our services accessible and affordable.”
She noted that patients can view lab results in real time as they become available and can check blood work results, for instance, before they meet with the doctor.
“That can help patients to fully engage in the conversation,” she said.
Even after patients go home, they can use their iPad or iPhone to log in and view clinic notes if they want to review what the doctor said during an appointment. They can also send secure messages to their care team, although Currently that service only available for certain areas within Mayo – transplant, obstetrics and primary care.
But Scheitel said that the goal is for that funcitonality to be expanded to other service areas in future updates of the app. She also added that the app is also being developed to work on the Android operating system.
Since the official release of the app on Monday, there have been six reviews of the app with five of them giving the highly-coveted five-star rating.
One glowing review possibly captures all that the developers at Mayo intended to achieve with the app.
“Not only do we get access to my medical information, but I can use this when I am looking for things to do, places to eat etc. This is such a wonderful tool and is really putting me first. Good work team Mayo!!!” – Amy Petro Kennelly
[Photo Credit: Mayo Clinic]
