.png)
Meet ALL MY MEDS, your medicine cabinet in your pocket.
We are thrilled to share that our first app, All My Meds is now live on the Apple App Store and on Google Play. It has been a journey to get to this stage, but we are really excited to see our app live and out there for you all to try.
So what is it exactly?
The idea behind the app is to create a simple way to keep track of the medications you or your family are taking.
Between prescriptions, over the counter medications, and vitamins or supplements, it can be hard to remember every medication you are taking. What about medication you’ve taken that you had a reaction to? Or what about meds that you manage for family members?
The All My Meds App is a free and simple way to use your phone and it’s built in camera to keep track of everything you (or family members) are taking so it’s one less thing you have to worry about.
Why did we start with this app?
Over the past two years we’ve talked to a lot of women about their health experiences and how it impacts their everyday lives. While we got a lot of feedback for our large app ideas, there was one small thing we kept hearing.
“Every time I speak with a medical professional they ask me what medications I’m taking. How am I supposed to remember all that and all the medications for my family?”
As mothers, we’ve experienced this ourselves, especially when travelling. There have been a number of times when I’ve needed to get medication abroad and the brand names are different and I don’t know what I need. We heard that women were carrying around empty boxes in their bags to remember the names of medications or taking pictures on their phone.
As a GP, Rose also had a lot of examples of patients spending precious appointment minutes going through their old photos trying to find a photo of medications. We thought there must be a better way. So we created one!
Our app was created to help people better communicate all the different types of medication they are taking. While doctors can usually look up your prescriptions, they rely on patients to tell them about any over the counter meds, vitamins and supplements, and any side effects or reactions. This is a lot for someone to remember, especially if they also have to do the same for multiple members of their family. Photos are a simple way to make sure that the doctor knows exactly what you are taking.
But doesn’t my doctor already know what I’m taking?
Sure, they should know what prescriptions you are taking. But sometimes that data is buried in your medical records, which can take a while to find, not great if you are in an emergency situation! And they still always ask about any reactions to medications.
However, while they know about prescriptions, they don’t know what over the counter medications or supplements or vitamins you might be taking. These medications and supplements could have an adverse effect on your health or could interact with prescriptions. With photos to hand you can easily show a medical professional what additional meds you are taking, giving them an essential full picture of what your health situation is.
So how does it work?
It’s really simple. When you open the app there are a few folders already set up for you to use around prescription and over the counter medications. We’ve also included a folder for medications that cause a reaction as we know that these are some of the most important notes you need, especially for family members and this is something that’s been left out of other medication apps.
Once you go into a folder, you can then take a photo of your medications. The idea is you can take a picture of the box, the prescription, the pill - whatever you need to help you keep the information you need for taking the medication or for speaking with a medical professional about it. You can also upload photos you might have taken previously, especially important for old medications that you know cause issues. After uploading photos you can then put in notes about the medication.
You can create as many folders as you need including folders for family members. In each folder you can add as many photos or medications as you need. This allows users to keep large amounts of medication information all in one very easy to use and access app.
What else does it do?
After launching a prototype version of the app a few months ago we had a lot of great feedback from the women we tested the app with. Some of the feedback was that they wanted the ability to keep track of expiry dates and wanted reminders to order their prescriptions.
We’ve added these in now as features. When you put in a medication there is a place where you can add in a reminder to order new medications. At the moment this is just to serve as a reminder, like a calendar reminder, but in the future we hope to build on this to help people reorder medications or cancel unneeded prescriptions (something costing the NHS a lot every year).
Free to use and Data secure
We wanted to make this app something that all women (and really all people) can use to help manage their medication. It is free to use and currently lives on your phone, not the cloud, so it is secure. The app doesn’t capture any personal information and doesn’t capture or share data. We might look at future versions where we make use of medical/pharmaceutical data to help users or look at ways for you to intentionally share this data. However, health data security is extremely important to us, so for now we are keeping it simple and secure.
We hope you enjoy using the app and are always keen for feedback, ideas, and suggestions on how we can continue to improve the app.