I love it when two companies come together to create and form a great idea. Medco Health Solutions and Verizon Wireless are entering the healthcare industry with a bang thanks to their recent mobile application, The Medco Pharmacy App. The application offers “real-time patient-specific drug safety and savings information” along with critical information for patients and their doctors. One of the major features the app entails is the assistance of the prevention of having dangerous drug interactions occur, thanks to the Medco software running what they call “safety checks” for medications that could possibly conflict with one another. The app runs on both Blackberry's and Android enabled smartphones. It's also customizable for any user's pharmacy benefit plan and houses all of their medical history as well. Check out the rest of the features and screenshots below. You can get the app on the Android Market.
From the Market:
The Medco Pharmacy app offers eligible members access to lower-cost medication alternatives anytime, anywhere, as well as mobile alerts to keep members on track with taking their medication as prescribed.
The app has three features:
• My Medicine Cabinet: View medications and set reminders for yourself or other members of your household to take or refill them.
• My Rx Choices®: Look up lower-cost prescription options.
• A virtual prescription ID card offers convenience to members on the go.
Full Press Release & More Screenshots:
VERIZON WIRELESS AND MEDCO UNVEIL FIRSTMOBILE MEDICATION APP WITH REAL-TIME PATIENT-SPECIFIC DRUG SAFETY AND SAVINGSINFORMATION
Free App Available on Verizon Wireless BlackBerry®and Android™ Smartphones
BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J. – Verizon Wireless and Medco Health Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: MHS) today announced a mobile application that can instantly guide patients and their doctors to the lowest-cost prescription drug to meet their health needs and help them identify potentially harmful drug interactions. Available now on Verizon Wireless Android handsets and BlackBerry devices, the new Medco Pharmacy mobile app delivers critical information to help Medco members manage their prescription medications.
The Medco Pharmacy mobile app, available for download in V CAST Apps, provides information about out-of-pocket costs for any prescription drug and lower-cost options specific to a person’s prescription drug plan, as well as drug interaction alerts based on the patient’s prescription history – even if the patient is treated by several doctors or fills prescriptions at many different pharmacies. Once registered at medco.com, patients will have their complete medication history and drug plan at their fingertips and can discuss cost-saving options, drug safety or coverage issues with their medical professional, even before they leave the doctor’s office.
The Medco Pharmacy mobile app, offering unique healthcare functionality, consists of three key features:
· My Rx Choices: Delivers on-demand, personalized out-of-pocket costs for any prescription medication and lower-cost options based on the member’s pharmacy plan coverage, as well as for eligible dependents; informs the registered members who can share the information with their physicians or pharmacist if there are any health or drug plan rules that require a physician authorization before the drug can be dispensed; and provides alerts to potential drug interaction risks associated with the current medications the person is on and a new medication a physician intends to prescribe.
· My Medicine Cabinet: Allows individuals to view the medications they are on and set reminders for themselves or members of the household to take or refill those medications. Over-the-counter (OTC) medications, vitamins and supplements can be added and checked for possible interactions with current prescription drugs. The drug review is automatic if the OTC is purchased at The Medco Health Store.
· Prescription ID Card: Offers convenient, easy access to a member’s prescription drug card anytime, anywhere.
“Wireless devices are a part of the lifestyle as we know it today, and millions of people rely on their BlackBerry and Android smartphones for instant information,” said Mike Ross, vice president of sales, healthcare, Verizon Wireless. “Reliability is paramount to not only medical information, but for a network too. Our combined technologies will give users a powerful tool that can help them manage their medical care.”
According to Medco research, 500,000 prescriptions that have a lower-cost option available are written every day for Medco members, illustrating the enormous potential savings opportunities that exist. The app is built on Medco’s My Rx Choices prescription savings and patient safety program, which was launched online in 2006.
“The Medco Pharmacy mobile app provides innovative patient-specific pharmacy information that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the healthcare system; it puts actionable information in front of patients so they’re able to share it with their physicians, even while still in the exam room, or the pharmacist before dispensing. It provides personalized results for the more than 65 million members we serve,” said Tom Feitel, senior vice president, Imagineering and Innovation, Medco. “Medco is proud to bring this mobile solution to its clients and members as we continue to look for innovative ways to accelerate electronic practices within the healthcare system.”
