Medical Apps: The Chronic Disease Patient’s Best Friend

[Amanda Griffith]

As I’ve shared before, I’ve lived with ulcerative colitis for more than 20 years. It’s a chronic disease with extremely unpleasant symptoms and it wreaks havoc on my immune system. When I say it’s been a particularly awful June health-wise – and we’re only at June 17 – I mean it. Between allergic reactions, flare-ups and other, more difficult, complications, I’d give anything to have access to some of the medical apps that Carey Goldberg reports on in her CommonHealth blog this week.

 

Since June 1, I’ve had three doctor’s appointments, with two different doctors, three calls with nurses, two with front-office staff and a couple of email exchanges over the patient portal. All in all, I’m lucky to have the access I’ve had to my medical support team, but it’s also taken a good deal of time that should have been dedicated to family, friends and, ahem…work…

 

As Goldberg points out, fifty percent of Americans have some sort of chronic disease, from high blood pressure to diabetes to asthma, and their care accounts for some 75 percent of the nation’s medical costs. She rightly makes the point that the more powerful our arsenal for treating chronic diseases, the better, especially if the weapons can be as simple as an app or a little desktop gadget.

 

NEHI, a national health policy institute based in Boston, has just put out a report on what’s new and what’s coming soon in technology for chronic disease patients. 

 

My favorite is Virtual Visits: As a patient, you can be seen via video by your doctor through a Web portal, whether on your own personal computer or a tablet or smartphone. Talk about a time saver! It’s an idea I’ve been reading up on, particularly as one of my clients, Hello Health, offers this functionality and I wish my doctors were a part of the Platform so I could subscribe.

 

What medical app would be most helpful for your own needs? Please leave me a comment below and let me know.