The First Prescription-Only App

TWToxicity writes "Most prescriptions would say something like 'take two pills nightly with meal' on the bottle. Now, we may be adding a new method. Baltimore-based company WellDoc is making a national push in 2014 for doctors to prescribe their app, BlueStar, after a regional launch last Fall. BlueStar helps patients with Type II Diabetes by suggesting in real-time when to test and how to regulate their blood-sugar levels by, for example, altering their medication or food intake. Prescription apps may revolutionize mobile medicine and allow for more effective treatments because the patients get real time feedback and the data collected by the app is sent to their physicians. WellDoc is currently working on apps to monitor and coach patients with other diseases. The success of this product will rely on how many doctors prescribe it."

Comments

No thanks

[dreamchaser]

I guess I could see this being useful for some, but I am a diabetic and I have no need for this app. Most people who would need it just don't practice tight control with enough discipline. I know when to test, can tell by how I feel when things are off, and know how to adjust my diet and insulin as needed. I also don't think I like the potential for abuse with an app like this. Yes, I know there is HIPPA to protect privacy. For some reason that still doesn't make me feel warm and fuzzy about tracking my health or disorder with an app.

Re:No thanks

[wcrowe]

I am also diabetic, and I agree with you. Adjusting your diet and dosages is not that difficult to achieve good control. After a while it almost becomes second nature. Anyone who is too lazy to do it on their own is going to be too lazy to input data into an app which tells them what to do. And, as you say, the tracking component is highly undesireable. I don't need some faceless company nagging me about what I should or shouldn't be doing. Life's hard enough when you have to be your own pancreas.

I could see a future where insurance companies will require this sort of app, though. I hope they find a cure, or that I'm dead, by then.