The First Prescription-Only App 84
TWToxicity writes "Most prescriptions would say something like 'take two pills nightly with meal' on the bottle. Now, we may be adding a new method. Baltimore-based company WellDoc is making a national push in 2014 for doctors to prescribe their app, BlueStar, after a regional launch last Fall. BlueStar helps patients with Type II Diabetes by suggesting in real-time when to test and how to regulate their blood-sugar levels by, for example, altering their medication or food intake. Prescription apps may revolutionize mobile medicine and allow for more effective treatments because the patients get real time feedback and the data collected by the app is sent to their physicians. WellDoc is currently working on apps to monitor and coach patients with other diseases. The success of this product will rely on how many doctors prescribe it."
'round here, we call it 'Rent Seeking' (Score:4, Interesting)
They do prescribe some electronic devices and programming (e.g. CPAP machines) to individuals, but in all honesty, this is one step too effing far.
Mind you, my missus is diabetic, but she can control her blood sugar levels just fine w/o being forced to buy/use a smartphone app to do it. Instead she uses a combination of common sense and a meter. So far, it's stayed happily between 98-130, and that's in spite of juggling two different types of insulin to keep it under control (Novolog and Lantus).
Last bloody thing I need is for some doc getting a kickback to push an app onto her phone that the insurance company gets billed $12,000 for :(