The following mHealth apps were announced within the past two weeks.
1. Detroit-based Henry Ford Health System launched the Henry Ford Rx app, a free app to help patients order and manage medications. Users can order refills, receive text messages when their medication is ready for pickup, locate nearby pharmacies and see an overview of medication records, among other features.
2. MedDiary released a patient engagement app intended to provide short-term aid for situations requiring heightened management, such as following discharge instructions for one to two months, managing a newly diagnosed chronic disease for the first three to six months, following a complex medication regimen or adhering to a new strict diet. The goal of the app is to help patients make the health modifications until they don't require the assistance of the app anymore.
3. Otoharmonics, a startup supported by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, received 510(k) premarket approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its iPad/iPod Touch app that treats tinnitus. The app is part of a larger package, including software, earbuds and the Apple devices. A physician can prescribe the system to the patient. The physician makes custom earbuds using molds of the patient's ears. The app outlines the ringing sound the patient is hearing and then creates a therapy based on the sound, which the patient listens to while sleeping.
4. Patients of the Carle Foundation Hospital and Carle Physician Group's Fairchild Street clinic in Danville, Ill., can download an app that tells them current wait times and informs their physicians when the patient is en route to the clinic.
5. Researchers at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago developed an app for parents of infants with very low birth weight to ease the transition from the hospital to home. The app, NICU-2-Home, provides information on common NICU issues, supports parents' mental health and manages the infant's health data.
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