10 Medical Apps to Help You Improve Your Life

by Nathan Eddy

A comprehensive reference app, Johns Hopkins ABX Guide lets you search for information on medications and treatments for various illnesses. The app also has evidence-based recommendations to give you an idea of whether it is right for your lifestyle. One of the app’s most useful features is a table that breaks down the cost of each drug.

This app brings you access to the social networking service for U.S. physicians. Launched in 2011, Doximity has more than 295,000 verified physician members as of January 2014, and it offers a searchable directory of 700,000 U.S. physicians as well as Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act- (HIPAA-) secure case collaboration and physician-to-physician messaging.

A fun and colorful way to take control of your medication and supplement schedule, this free app offers customized pill reminders, and once you’ve added a medication, Mango Health alerts you to side effects and potentially dangerous drug interactions with other meds, supplements or food. The app also automatically logs your medicine history and also makes it possible to record your symptoms, side effects and how you feel over time.

This app lets you set daily tasks according to your treatment plan—simply tap to complete each task, then send health information back to your provider and sync with Apple Health for tracking. You can also optionally include a note for each task, and set up push reminders to help you remember important health tasks.

Whether it’s your joint pain, a parent’s diabetes or your spouse’s cholesterol, this iOS-exclusive app uses clinical research to help you shift from wondering what could be wrong to what you can do about it. In addition, the app recommends qualified physicians covered by your insurance and informs you of what you need to know before your doctor’s appointment. If AskMD detects that you might be in a critical or life-threatening situation, the app will direct you to emergency rooms closest to your location.

This simple pharmaceutical reference app offers features such as proper drug dosage and medicine recommendations. You can search the name of a specific drug to find out how it should be taken, as well as any potential side effects. As a bonus, an Internet connection is not required, allowing for access at any time from any place. You can also search by ailment for drug recommendations that will combat your medical problem, from a standard fever to lice control. This app is now available for only $2.99 per year.

HealthLoop is a way for you to stay connected with your doctor between visits, keeping your entire medical team in the loop and informed about your progress. The app’s mobile check-ins ask you how you’re doing and help you prepare, set daily expectations, support self-care recovery activities, anticipate questions and monitor clinical areas of concern. In addition, relevant information is shared with your doctor through Apple Health app integration.

This app lets you check and track your blood sugar levels and reduces errors by automatically handling tasks that are associated with most blood glucose measuring systems, such as coding, counting test strips and logging test results. You can also add the secure cloud service—which is also free—to have a convenient “go-to” testing system wherever you are.

Lark works with iOS 8’s HealthKit to analyze all your health data and provide a personal experience. The app analyzes your data from the health sensors you always have with you—your iPhone—with a link to Apple’s Health app to create meaning out of your activity, sleep and nutrition data. Lark uses the iPhone’s low-power sensors, so you don’t need to worry about draining your battery, and a quick chat with the app shows you insights about your own health data.

MyChart grants you access to your medical records at all times. You can access which vaccinations you’ve had and when, the last time you visited the doctor and which prescriptions you’re taking. You can even send a non-urgent message to your clinic and receive a response within a couple of days, schedule and otherwise manage appointments, and request prescription refills. You can even view and pay your bill.