BEST APP FOR PILL REMINDER HOW TO

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BEST APP FOR PILL REMINDER HOW TO

Users wouldn’t have to figure out how to download and set up a separate program, especially if they’re already using the Health app. “That adherence needle is a hard needle.”įor iPhone users, this feature would be more accessible than some standalone apps already on the market. “A patient might have a high internal motivation to start using something like this and interacting with it - but do they keep using it, and does it actually help them take their medications? That adherence needle is a hard needle,” Heldenbrand says.

Just offering up a reminder feature might not drive major changes, particularly around something as challenging as medication adherence. Nudges tend to work better if they’re part of a positive feedback loop with providers.

But it’d only be one-sided through the app - and one-sided communication around medication has historically been less successful than a system where doctors can write back, de Vera says. That could give doctors insight into how their patients are taking medications, which Heldenbrand says is useful information. People who use Apple’s medication app will be able to share their medication history with family members or others through the Health app’s sharing feature. But it’s less helpful for other groups: if someone isn’t taking medication because they don’t understand why it’s necessary, a smartphone alert isn’t going to solve the problem. It’s helpful for the subset of patients where forgetting to take a drug is the main reason that they’re not adhering to a treatment plan, says Mary de Vera, an associate professor at the University of British Columbia who studies medication adherence. These types of nudges can help improve medication adherence, research shows. The Health app will track how often a user takes their meds over time. Then, they can hit “taken” or “skipped” to log the dose. When it’s time to take a med, people get an alert on their iPhone or Apple Watch. The tool lets users input a list of the medications they take and set a specific reminder schedule for each drug. “I think it is a step in the right direction.”

Best app for pill reminder