FDA Launches First Official Mobile App 'DrugShortages' to Provide Real-Time Drug Supply Information

The U.S. FDA has recently launched a new app, “DrugShortages,” designed specifically for healthcare professionals and pharmacists to track current medication inventory levels, providing information on currently scarce drugs, resolved shortages, and out-of-stock items. VCBeat will briefly introduce the main content and features of this app, as well as other recent achievements by the FDA in this area.

Drug shortages can cause unnecessary inconvenience for both patients and physicians, potentially leading to patient transfers and exacerbating doctor-patient conflicts.

“The FDA recognizes that healthcare professionals and pharmacists need real-time information on drug shortages to facilitate timely treatment decisions,” said Valerie Jensen, Deputy Director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), in a statement. “This new mobile app is an innovative tool that makes it easier and faster for stakeholders to access critical information on drug shortages.”

Users can search for drugs by generic name or active ingredient, or browse them alphabetically or by therapeutic category. The app also assists the FDA in identifying potential drug shortages or supply issues.

Users can search for drugs by generic name or active ingredient in the app’s database, or browse alphabetically or by therapeutic category. The app also provides guidance on how to report drug shortages or supply issues.

The FDA hopes that healthcare professionals and pharmacists can leverage the information provided in this app to make rapid decisions regarding patient treatment.

The app is available for free download on iTunes and Google Play.

Over the past few years, the FDA has gradually released several other digital resources for consumers and professionals.

In 2012, Epidemico collaborated with the FDA to launch an application: MedWatcher. This app enables consumers to directly report adverse effects or adverse events associated with medical devices to the FDA. Although the app was initially released in 2010, it underwent a comprehensive redesign in 2012 by Epidemico with assistance from the FDA, according to evaluations by App Annie.

Last summer, the FDA launched an API-driven initiative named openFDA, aimed at helping web developers, researchers, and consumers access the agency’s large public health datasets. The goal of this initiative is to enable developers to fully leverage openFDA data in designing applications.

With the rise of the mobile health boom, there is a wide variety and large number of healthcare applications worldwide. To prevent harm from potential risks arising from lack of regulation over mobile health applications, the FDA officially released the final version of the Guidance for Mobile Medical Applications in September 2013. In 2014, the FDA approved 31 mobile medical applications, which primarily fell into four categories: apps, software tools, mobile medical devices, and mobile medical devices combined with apps.

In 2015, the FDA also approved the first mobile medical application system for continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), enabling designated individuals (such as physicians or family members) to remotely and securely monitor patients’ blood glucose levels in real time. (For the latest updates on digital health entrepreneurship, please follow VCBeat’s WeChat official account: vcbeat. We also welcome your engagement on topics of interest, or you may contact us via WeChat to share your startup projects or related research insights.)