14 DAY TRIAL // GreatCall Inc. has announced its first iPhone application, MedCoach, a tool designed to make medication easier and less costly for the customer through improved management.
The creators of the app recall a June 2010 report issued by The Healthcare Intelligence Network (2010 Benchmarks in Improving Medication Adherence) which found that poor medication adherence is tied to as much as $290 billion annually in increased medical costs.
This is where MedCoach steps in to “help to reduce these numbers by engaging the customer with an easy-to-use and unobtrusive system designed to minimize missed dosages.”
“Whether you take multiple medications at different times of the day, or just simply want to remember your daily aspirin, MedCoach will assist you in an easy-to-use and interactive way,” GreatCall says.
The app, available as a free download from the iTunes App Store, allows users to easily follow their medication schedule as prescribed by their doctor.
Directly on their iPhone or iPad, customers can track adherence to that schedule, and even contact their pharmacy for a refill based on their prescription.
A Medication Reminder service includes not only the user’s personal medication schedule, but also a contact list of doctors and pharmacies, and a medication history.
GreatCall is proud to highlight a few key features of their MedCoach app, one of which is the ability to shake-for-help.
Basically, users just shake their device as they’re studying a certain topic and information (relevant to that topic) will appear via a help “bubble” on the screen.
Another key benefit is the 24/7 access to live, personal assistance via email to GreatCall’s HIPAA compliant customer support team.
Finally, a medication lookup option helps users select their medication and dosage by accessing the First Databank national drug database.
MedCoach is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad and requires iOS 4.2 or later.
Update: The software can only be downloaded and used in the U.S.A (our apologies to reader doug for not specifying this in the original report).