Reviews of Smartphone Medication Apps – 2nd Edition

There are so many medication apps available, it can be hard to know which one to choose. This post includes 2 reviews of apps for medication — You can view previous reviewed apps for medication in this prior post.

Taking the correct medication at the right time is an important part of your health care. Since more than 50% of Americans don’t take their medication as prescribed, it’s wise to use reminders to help you stay on track. Smartphone medication apps can provide reminders, and other organizational tools, to help you follow your doctor’s recommendations.

Warning!

App developers may share your information. A recent review found that 79% of health apps share your information with other companies. These 3rd (and 4th) party vendors use the data for analytics and advertising, but they also can access your personal information. So beware!

A summary of the apps reviewed in this post can be found in this chart, with detailed information regarding pros and cons of each app below.

CareZone 

This free app is easy to use and is available for iOS and Android devices. In addition to reminding you to take your medications, this app has many tools that helps you keep track of many facets of your health.

Pros of CareZone:

• One thing that sets this app apart from others is the ability to connect to their CareZone Pharmacy, which will pre-package your medications in small packets with the day and time printed on each packet, making it easy to keep your pills organized, especially if you are taking pills with you when you leave your home. This service accepts most major insurance programs and ships free to your house. (NOTE – a similar service is also available through PillPack and CVS.)
• You can enter your medication information manually or by taking photos of your medication containers (prescription and over-the-counter).
• When you enter the information for each medication, you can set reminders, and include information regarding the prescribing doctor, the pharmacy information, when it expires, when it was last ordered, and more.
• You can send a variety of reports to yourself, a family member or anyone on your medical team.
• Once a week the app sends you an email showing you how often you took your medications, as well as reminding you of upcoming calendar appointments and items on your to-do list.
• The Trackers section allows you to measure and track 13 health trends, including blood glucose, blood pressure, pain, weight, and nausea levels.
• You can scan your insurance cards so they are always handy.
• The Journal allows you to record notes on your health, such as side effects.
• You can easily store information on your doctors and other healthcare providers, by either manually typing or adding from your existing contact list.
• The app can remind you when a prescription needs to be refilled.
• You can share your profile with any one you choose.
• The app can be set up for multiple patients, each with their own medications, reminders, reports, etc.
• You can add reminders for doctor (and any other kind) appointments and receive 1 or 2 reminder alerts for each appointment.

Cons of CareZone:

• You cannot modify the medication reminder alarms. There is no way to set up a “snooze” or “pause” to receive multiple reminders for each medication.
• When it’s time to take a medication, a “banner” alert appears on your phone, with the tone set by you under the “Reminder Alerts” in “Sounds & Haptics”  (note – this will be the same audio alert you hear for other reminders). Therefore you cannot set a distinct tone just for your medication alerts. This could be troublesome if you want a louder, longer tone used for medications but don’t want to hear this for other reminders.

Mango Health 

This free app is available for iOS and Android devices. The app includes a rewards program, with a chance to win prizes, to encourage users to take medications as prescribed.

Pros of Mango Health:

• This app uses a rewards system, called Mango Points, to encourage users to follow their medication routines and health goals. When you record that you have taken all of your medications and achieved your goals for your habits on schedule each day, you earn points that give you a chance to win prizes. There are “levels” and weekly raffles for active users in each level group. Note you must register as a user in order to participate in the rewards program.
• When entering medications, as you type the name, options appear on the screen, helping you choose the right medication. Once you choose a medication, it adds a photo of the medication in your medication list. This makes it easier to keep track of multiple medications.
• For each medication, you can enter the number of doses (pills, etc) that you have left, and the app will remind you when it is time for a refill.
• When you enter a new medication, the app will send you messages (within the app, not emails) with helpful information. Learn about side effects, possible interactions with other medications, as well as general information and instructions.
• The “Healthy Habits” section allows you to receive reminders throughout the day  for 6 habits. Select from ‘watch weight’, ‘hydrate’, ‘track blood pressure’, ‘move more’, ‘check blood glucose’ and ‘record mood’. You set the frequency and time of these reminders, which can help you reach your goals.
• When it is time for a medication, you will receive a “banner” reminder on your phone. You can hit “snooze” to receive another reminder. You can customize the length of the snooze setting.
• If you don’t mark a medication as “taken”, you can edit your history to show that you took a particular dose.
• You can choose from 7 sounds for your reminder alarms.
• There is a helpful FAQ section within the app.
• The app can remind you when a prescription needs to be refilled.
• There is a Facebook Mango Health community where you can connect with other patients and families.

Cons of Mango Health:

• The medication alert doesn’t indicate medication you should take when the alarm sounds. You need to open the app for that information, which is inconvenient.
• I could not find a way to upload or email weekly (or monthly) compliance reports.
• You cannot use the app to store contact information on your doctor, hospital or pharmacy.
• There is no place to add information pertaining to your prescribing doctor or pharmacy used for each medication.

NOTE: I updated this post on March 25, 2019.