10 iPhone Apps to Help Manage Medications | Nanny Jobs

10 iPhone Apps to Help Manage Medications | Nanny Jobs

10 iPhone Apps to Help Manage Medications

Keeping track of your medications can be a challenge, especially if you suffer from a chronic illness that requires you to take several throughout the day. While patients used to rely largely upon compartmentalized pill organizers and their own fallible memories to ensure that each of their medications was administered properly and on time, the leaps and bounds in cell phone technology and the developers who keep the iPhone’s App Store stocked have simplified and streamlined this process dramatically.

These 10 apps can help you manage your medications or those of a child more efficiently, ensuring that you never miss a dose or inadvertently administer a double dose.

1. Medication Tracker (iMedications) – This $3.99 app will send reminder alerts to your iPhone, allow you to add a photo of each pill for identification purposes, manage your dosage information and history, as well as email and share your list of medications with medical professionals. All of your iMedications information is stored right on your device, so you won’t need an Internet connection in order to use the majority of the features.
2. iPharmacy – Pill ID & Rx Reminder – Compare the prices of your medication at various pharmacies, set up a medication schedule, access Food and Drug Administration alerts and recalls, find drug coupons and identify your medications quickly and easily with this $0.99 app.
3. MedCoach Medication Reminder – MedCoach is a free application that will not only remind you to take your medication at the right time each day, it will also connect you with your chosen pharmacy in order to allow for quick and easy refills. Log the pills you’ve already taken to ensure no accidental double doses and create detailed lists for healthcare providers quickly and easily.
4. Pill Reminder by Drugs.com – This $0.99 app will not only help you remember your medications and record each dosage for management purposes, it also allows support for multiple family members, offers reminders for refills and grants users access to medical information and contraindications for specific medications that includes side effects, possible interactions and pregnancy safety.
5. RxmindMe Prescription / Medicine Reminder and Pill Tracker – Simple and easy to manage, this free app is a great choice for less tech-savvy users. The easy-to-navigate interface allows users to set up daily, hourly and monthly reminders, as well as record medications taken on an irregular or “as needed” basis.
6. Dosecast – Designed simply to provide no-frills reminders for medications and supplements, the free Dosecast app will send reminders to take your medication even when you have no Internet connection. The app also tracks your current time zone and adjusts accordingly.
7. Drugs & Medications – As the number one paid medical app in several countries for 2009, 2010 and 2011, Drugs and Medications is a simple but powerful $0.99 app that offers comprehensive information for an impressive variety of medications, including contraindications, descriptions, manufacturer information and generic names for more than 6,000 different drugs.
8. Pill Monitor – Medication Reminders and Logs – This $0.99 app will help you remember to take your medications each day by allowing an unlimited number of reminders for each pill. You can also access side effects, recommended dosage and interaction information to stay informed about what you’re taking and the effects it has.
9. PocketPharmacist – Drug Information and Medication Organizer – Created by a pharmacist, this $1.99 app provides absolutely unbiased drug information that is not sponsored in any way by pharmaceutical companies or medication brands. iPhone Life Magazine calls PocketPharmacist the number one Pharmacy App, as features include not only a medication organizer but also the Med Check tool, which automatically searches for medication incompatibilities.
10. Pillboxie – Simple and clean with a graphic interface that allows you to manage your medication visually, Pillboxie’s reminder system is set up by dropping virtual pills into a pillbox. No network connection is required to run this $0.99 app, which can be fully customized to suit your individual needs.

While these apps can be very beneficial to those who are forced to maintain control of many medications, it’s important for patients to keep in mind that even these powerful devices can be fallible. It’s best to consider these apps an aid in health management, rather than relying on them fully to keep up with your medications. Ideally, you should have your drug regimen mostly memorized and written out so that you can keep up with it in the event of your phone becoming lost or getting stolen.