I’ve occasionally blogged about privacy and security concerns raised by mobile health applications. I’m happy to report that there’s now an app in beta-testing that may be very helpful to consumers without requiring consumers to sacrifice data security or privacy.
The app automatically pulls in your prescription records from your pharmacy to enable you to keep track and manage your renewals. Although it’s still in start-up stage, it already supports most of the national pharmacy chains that provide online medication histories and can also pull in your information from some prescription insurance providers.
Helpfully, the app also enables you to get information on your medications and, importantly, interactions between your prescription medications and over-the-counter (OTC) medications (you can manually add or input OTC if you want to). Ever struggle to remember your doctor’s name or contact information to give to another doctor? The app allows you to keep track of that, too. And it can warn you if a prescribed medication contains something you’re allergic or sensitive too if you input your known allergies and problems.
Sounds like a lot of sensitive information, right? Well wait until you read their security and privacy information. “Your most sensitive information never leaves your phone unencrypted,” they write, and “You, and only you, can access your pharmacy passwords and your profile.” Indeed, I don’t recall ever reading any security section on an app’s site that provides as much detail about encryption and security as this one does, enabling savvy consumers to reach their own conclusions about whether this app will give them some peace of mind on security and privacy.
The app is called Pill-Fill. You can read more about it here. Although it’s not yet available for public download, it is in beta-testing, and if you are an Android user and would like to be a beta-tester, see the sign-up information here. Eventually the app will also be available for iPhone users.
It should be clear by now that I’m pretty enthusiastic about this app, and I am, having spent about an hour on the phone with its developer and chief architect a few months ago. I look forward to interviewing him for this blog after they get deeper into beta-testing.