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AMA releases medication tracking app
■ The mobile application is designed to improve communication among patients, physicians and caregivers.
By Bob Cook — Posted Dec. 5, 2011
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The American Medical Association on Nov. 22 introduced its second mobile application, a program designed to allow patients to store, carry and share their medical information.
The 99-cent My Medications app, available from the iTunes store, enables patients to create and update a list of medications, including dosing and schedule information (link).
It also can track immunization records and allergy information. From the app, patients can email the information to physicians, family members or friends as needed. The app also enables patients to maintain a list of their medical team's contact information.
"When a physician has access to a patient's current medications, allergies and immunizations, the risk of medication errors and adverse reactions to medications decreases," said Steven J. Stack, MD, chair-elect of the AMA Board of Trustees.
My Medications is available for Apple's iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, as is CPT E/M Quick Reference, another AMA app released in 2011. That free app is a reference guide that helps physicians determine the appropriate CPT Evaluation and Management billing codes (link).
The AMA also is planning to develop two apps that were winners of the AMA's first App Challenge, which invited physicians, residents and medical students to submit ideas.
The AMA will develop Rounder, which would allow physicians to capture data from hospitalized patients so it can be tracked easily as patients progress. It was submitted by Cynthia L. Beamer, MD, a pediatric emergency physician from San Antonio.
The other app the AMA will develop is called JAMA Clinical Challenge. The learning app allows users to look at images or read vignettes and case information to come up with a diagnosis. It was submitted by Michael Ray Bykhovsky, a third-year medical student at Georgia Health Science University.