Apple Highlights 22 Top Health & Wellness Apps in January Editorial Feature

Apple regularly showcases applications for specific use cases and target audiences in its App Store. In the “Apps for Patients” section of its healthcare category, it highlights the following health care apps, ranging from well-known names like WebMD and Mayo Clinic to more low-profile, lesser-known options. Some apps cater to individuals with specific conditions, while others offer general health support for everyone. Below is a detailed overview of 22 health care apps curated by Apple, compiled by VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat).

The Mayo Clinic app is not limited to Mayo Clinic patients; it offers a broader range of features for users. It also provides educational content, such as fitness videos, recipes, and health tips. Mayo Clinic patients can access their test results and radiology images, and even sync the app with Apple Watch to receive appointment reminders on their wrists.

Pacifica is an application designed to help users cope with stress, anxiety, and depression by leveraging tools based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), meditation, and relaxation techniques. The app offers audio resources for mental relaxation and tracking features that monitor your health, mood, and even thought patterns. While the basic version of the application is free, the premium subscription costs $5.99 per month.

AskMD is a flagship application from Sharecare, Inc., featuring a suite of tools designed to help users manage their health. At its core is a symptom checker that works in conjunction with a physician recommendation engine. This engine recommends doctors to patients by integrating factors such as location, insurance coverage, and physician specialty. Users can also leverage the app to track and organize their personal health information.

The application has been filed with the FDA and can perform digital eye examinations to update contact lens prescriptions. Ophthalmologists will subsequently review the test results. This examination is intended solely to verify the efficacy of the user’s current contact lenses, rather than to issue a new prescription. If users have satisfactory vision, they can select and purchase lenses through the app.

Founded by Thomas Goetz, former editor of Wired, this application helps patients gain a deeper understanding of their prescription medications by enhancing information sharing. Users can share their personal experiences regarding drug efficacy and side effects, search for specific medications, and learn about them from both fellow users and professional pharmacists.

Healtho’s app, Cures, is designed to convey insights from medical journals to patients. Cures allows users to search for medical conditions, explore potential treatment options, and manage them through over-the-counter medications, prescription drugs, or homeopathic remedies. This enables users to investigate these therapies on their own or discuss them with their physicians. Additionally, Cures includes built-in tools for tracking symptoms.

The "First Aid" app is designed to provide users with emergency first-aid advice. It includes step-by-step instructions, interactive quizzes, and video tutorials. The app allows users to switch between English and Spanish and enables them to dial 911 directly from the right side of the interface.

Epic’s MyChart is a patient-facing application that comes with electronic health records. The app allows users to view test results, medication and immunization records, and other data. It also enables patients to connect with their doctors and helps them schedule appointments. Recently, MyChart has been integrated with Apple Health to facilitate the tracking and uploading of healthcare data.

MyFitnessPal is a highly acclaimed and widely used application for tracking diet and exercise, which was owned by Under Armour in early 2015. It features a built-in database of more than 5,000 food items, integrates with over 50 other applications, and enables comprehensive health monitoring. The app also includes an built-in activity tracking feature. While the basic version is free to use, the premium subscription costs $9.99 per month.

CareZone is an application designed to organize medical information, particularly medication details. The app allows users to take photos of their medications and automatically detects drug names, dosages, and other relevant information from the images. It also includes medication reminders and other tools to help users maintain their health.

For patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, mySugr helps them track their food intake and blood glucose levels. The Pro version adds coaching services, insulin dose calculation features, and reminders. The app is registered with the FDA as a Class I device.

MyRA is an application specifically designed for patients with rheumatoid arthritis, helping them track their symptoms. Developed by Crescendo Bioscience, a subsidiary of Myriad Genetics, the app displays a body image on which patients can mark the locations of their pain, as well as indicate when and during what activities the pain occurs. Crescendo states that the data collected through the app serves as a valuable complement to the company’s core offerings, such as the Vectra DA blood test for disease activity and clinical assessments conducted by rheumatologists.

Medisafe’s app, developed by an Israeli company, is a cloud-based system designed to improve medication adherence. Patients receive medication reminders from MediSafe, which then prompts them to record the dosage taken. If the app does not confirm that the patient has taken their medication, their family and friends are notified, enabling them to intervene.

VueMe is a patient-facing application product under MIM Software. Patients can use it to view X-ray, ultrasound, and MRI images provided by hospitals, which are stored in MIMcloud. The data is encrypted, and passwords are protected.

Walgreens’ app offers pharmacy shoppers a wide range of features, including several health-related functionalities: medication refills, medication reminders, and, through its partnership with MDLive, even provides users with telehealth options.

Symple is a symptom-tracking application that helps patients record their symptoms for subsequent review by physicians. Users can track up to 10 symptoms at a time and rate their severity on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 indicating the most severe. Users can also import data from Apple Health, take photos where appropriate, and document other potentially influential factors, such as known pharmacological treatments for these symptoms.

HealthSpek is the first personal health record application in this form, allowing users to add information they find useful, such as medication reminders, mammography screening reminders, wearable activity data, and price transparency tools. Users can also add their family members to the app and share these records with their doctors.

ZocDoc’s app, available on iOS and Android devices, prompts users to submit their ZIP code and insurance information, then lists nearby physicians along with their availability and other relevant details, including reviews from other patients.

Users can select a time to complete their appointment. ZocDoc also offers a check-in feature, so that when patients arrive

Before arriving at the hospital, patients can send their medical records to doctors, eliminating the need to fill out medical record forms upon arrival.

PillBoxie is another medication reminder application. Users can create medication plans by placing animated pills into a virtual pillbox within a highly intuitive interface. The reminder function works even when the device is offline or in sleep mode. PillBoxie is the only paid application on this list, costing $1.99.

Upon opening the Mango application, users are required to enter the names of their medications or supplements, and set the dosage and administration schedule. When it is time to take medication, Mango will remind the patient. The app automatically alerts users to potential risks arising from drug-drug interactions as well as drug-food interactions.

The program also features a personal health record function. It is gamified: the app includes virtual currency, which users can earn by taking medications on time and leveling up within the system. By leveling up and accumulating virtual currency, users can unlock real-world rewards through Mango’s partners, including donations to charitable organizations and gift cards for retailers such as Target.

WebMD is renowned for its symptom checker, but this is just one aspect of its more robust capabilities: it also includes medication reminders, habit and health tracking, first aid tips, a drug database, and educational content. Users can also use it to find nearby doctors.

onPatient is a personal health record application that provides mobile-based electronic health records and integrates with drchrono (an iPad-based electronic medical record system). The app allows patients to schedule appointments with physicians, enables doctors to view their medical records, facilitates communication between patients and physicians using drchrono, and provides doctors with access to patients’ medication lists and allergy information. Additionally, onPatient integrates with Apple Watch.

Source: MobiHealthNews; compiled by VCBeat.