Mobile technology has evolved to a degree where using the likes of a smartphone and/or a tablet computer is pretty much a standard among a huge chunk of the world’s population. Needless to say, a pretty big chunk of that chunk happen to consist of people taking, or working with, medication. Here is where medication management software comes into play, providing a large assortment of mobile apps developed to aid medical workers and patients alike. We are going to take a look at some of the best ones in the field.
Drug reference apps
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The most popular medical app for the iOS – Medscape by WebMD, scored number one on the chart for most downloaded medical apps soon after its release for the Android as well, and there is a good reason for that. After great anticipation from healthcare circles, the expectations for this great medical tool were more than met. This comprehensive application comes equipped not only with a giant drug reference database but also with a great drug interaction checker tool, CME activities, a news page and more. The database, which seems to expand with each update, also contains clinical procedure images and videos. Surprisingly enough, all this is for free.
PocketPharmacist, by Danike, is a drug information, interaction checker and medication organizer app that has received outstanding reviews from professionals and consumers alike. Its database isn’t as large as Medscape’s, but the strong point of the software seems to be its well-designed and organized interface. For instance, the integrated Med Check functionality automatically alerts you to interactions between two or more medications along with precautions and possible side effects. Drug info is neatly summarized and written in a simple style, easily understandable by anyone. The app’s Med Box med organizer features the ability to create multiple medication lists and it tracks all sorts of personal medical information.
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Pillboxie, developed by Jared Sinclair, is a very fun and easy to use pill reminder application for both iOS and Android. What makes this one stand out from other software of the same type is definitely its enhanced visual aspect, carried on by an intuitive interface. The managing and scheduling of meds has been designed to have a certain “gamy” feel – I saw a video review in which the reviewer was continuously creating new med entries because he “couldn’t stop”. Said entries are created by naming your med, choosing a distinguishing pill shape and color combination and dragging and dropping the created pill(s) into a row of boxes representing the different hours in the day, hence the app name. You are notified even if your device is in sleep mode.
A less visually pleasing but definitely more sophisticated and functional piece of software comes by the name of RxmindMe for the iPhone. Each medication entry can be customized in detail, specifying the method of intake, form, strength, who it is for, etc., which might save you some trouble in case you have lost your prescription and need to get more of the same medication. Speaking of which, the app comes with the pretty handy function of tracking the quantity of each of your scheduled meds and warning you to restock when what you have falls below a certain limit that you have previously specified. It does that by simply subtracting each dosage you mark as taken from the initial amount. Some other useful features are the built-in FDA drug database, prescription history archive, password protection and more. Aaaand it’s free.
Pill ID
Pill identifier by Drugs.com is a great tool to… uhhh, identify pills! This application comes in two versions. The cheaper one has less functionality and searches a database of 10,000+ Rx/OTC medications found in the US. You can search by imprint, drug name, shape and color. Identified results come with a bunch of information about the respective drug(s) such as images, description/indication, pregnancy category, CSA schedule, strength and Rx/OTC availability. For a considerably meatier price for a yearly subscription you can upgrade to the Pro version that expands the searchable database to a whopping 14,000+ entries and provides you with additional information for each drug. For this version all of the data is uploaded on your mobile device to make it accessible without an internet connection. Both versions can connect to Drugs.com for any available additional information.
Author: Lachezar Stamatov, writing for Logotech.
