Although many physicians would like to "prescribe" health apps to their patients, it can be a daunting endeavor. The exact number of medical and wellness apps currently available is unknown – I’ve seen numbers range from 40,000 to 97,000. Even the most astute physician will have difficulty navigating this ocean of options.
Fortunately, there are sites that do the legwork for us, including wellocracy.com, imedicalapps.com, medicalappjournal.com, medgadget.com, and mashable.com.
The Food and Drug Administration divides health apps into two categories: medical apps and health and wellness apps. Medical apps are those that turn your mobile device into a medical device; for example, allowing users to take a picture of a mole or to record their blood pressure and send it to their physician. By contrast, health and wellness apps help patients maintain healthy lifestyles and often employ self-tracking, such as tracking activity levels and calories consumed. The most popular of this latter type include weight loss and fitness apps.
As health care providers, we have a responsibility to encourage our patients to be actively engaged in their health. Recommending health and wellness apps that help patients track their activity can be powerful tools for patient engagement since tracking allows users see data that inspire them to set and reach goals.
Below are seven health and wellness apps that earn top scores from users and reviewers alike:
• WebMD: WebMD’s app receives high ratings for its simple, clean interface. Users choose among "lifestyle topics" that interest them, such as "fitness and exercise" or "parenting and family." Other key features include a symptom checker; first-aid tips; a list of local doctors, hospitals, and pharmacies; and a pill ID feature that lets users identify prescription drugs and OTC meds by shape, color, and imprint. Cost: Free.
• MyFitnessPal: This app consistently receives high scores from users striving to lose weight. With scores of cardio and strength training exercises and more than 2 million food entries including restaurant meals and packaged foods in its database, it makes both tracking one’s daily activity and calorie counting simple. Cost: Free.
• Fitocracy: What makes this fitness app so wildly popular among users? Its social gaming component. Not only do users track their activity levels, but they also connect with and compete against others. Similar to a video game, users earn points and badges that help them "level up" and reinforce their adherence to a healthy lifestyle. Cost: Free.
• MyQuit Coach: Consistently ranked one the top quit smoking apps, MyQuitCoach personalizes strategies to help users kick the habit. Users can commit to either quitting immediately or reducing smoking over time. Cost: Free.
• Sleep Cycle: By providing easy-to-read graphs, this app helps analyze the user’s sleep patterns and wakes them up during the lightest sleep phase, the natural way to wake up. Cost: $1.99
• MediSafe:Physicians know firsthand the difficulty of getting patients to adhere to taking their prescription medications. This easy-to-use app helps by providing reminders to patients when they need to take their medication and by sharing information with a "Med-Friend," which can be a family member or caretaker. The app also alerts users when it’s time for a refill. Cost: Free
• iTriage: This app uses location-based technology to help users find the nearest hospital or urgent care center. It is ideal for travelers, as well as people new to a neighborhood. Perhaps its best feature is its ability to provide an estimated wait time. Cost: Free
Wellness apps do not provide cures for illnesses, but they can help patients improve their overall health by encouraging them to make smarter, healthier lifestyle choices. And that’s something any physician can support.
Dr. Jeffrey Benabio is a practicing dermatologist and physician director of healthcare transformation at Kaiser Permanente in San Diego. Connect with him on Twitter @Dermdoc or drop him a line at benabio@gmail.com.