Care4Today Mobile Health Manager

This is a sponsored post about the new Care4Today Mobile Health Manager.  Opinions are my own.

I take a medication that requires dosage three separate times per day.  To be honest, I’m not the best at remembering.  Or I wasn’t.  I have added reminders to my Google Calendar but it’s annoying and I feel like I’m advertising that HEY I HAVE TO TAKE MY MEDICINE whenever alerts go off.  Which is cool, I’m not ashamed of things, but it’s not exactly discreet.  That’s what intrigued me about the Care4Today Mobile Health Manger app.  I can manage my medicine scheduling discreetly.It sounded like a great option for me.

But then I looked into the app more, and attended a webinar on it, and I realized that this app can be so much more than a way for ME to keep track of MY dosage and schedule.  For parents with children away at school or camp, they can help remind their kids to be taking their medicine.

For those of us with loved ones who are older and needing medication more and more frequently, it’s a way we can stay up to date and know what medications our loved ones are on, when they need to take it, and when they may need a refill.  I know for us, with my dad living with Alzheimer’s Disease, he’s in a facility with a wing that is for folks with Alz.  But even with that, especially for my sister who has power of attorney, knowing what medications he’s taking and when he needs to take them, be seen for a new prescription, when some may expire, or when it’s time to change a dose- that’s all information that would make life a lot simpler for my sister and the rest of us- but can also save us time, expense and keep dad on his medications that he really needs to function as best he can at this stage of the disease. It’s hard to keep multiple family members up to date, and with an app like this, a few clicks and updated information can be sent to family, physicians and/or caregivers alike.

For families where a child splits time between two households, it’s also a way to ensure that everyone is on the same page and has all of the medical information necessary for just in case.  It’s never a bad thing for both parents to have all of the medical information up to date.

With the age of food allergies (and drugs, insects, etc.) has come a huge number of folks who need to carry an Epi-Pen at all times.  These are great but they all have expiration dates.  Being able to keep track in an app where you can set reminders for expiration dates  and requesting refill prescriptions can be a huge benefit to families who have Epi-Pens.  I’m not sure I know of any families who have an epi who don’t have at least 2 in their possession- it would be so easy to mix up an expiration date, and while it might be fine a few days past expiration dates, epis are used in an emergency situation which could so easily be life threatening– giving families one more way to manage their care and keep up to date with things is a great tool.  I can only imagine that if my child was away at summer camp or college and I realized their epi was expiring, the panic I’d feel. With an app like Care4Today, I could be alerted to the pending expiration and get in touch with the physician and my child or their caregiver to get a current Epi-Pen without having a lag.  Peace of mind.

Approximately 50 percent of patients with chronic illnesses do not take their medications as prescribed, a serious problem that can cause delayed recovery, disease relapse and hospitalization. In today’s fast-paced world, people often overlook taking medications at the right time every day. There are many reasons people don’t take their medications, but the most commonly cited reason is they simply forget.

With Care4Today™ Mobile Health Manager 2.0, consumers can set up reminders for any kind of prescription or over-the-counter medication, nutritional supplement or any other activity. The platform uses secure, two-way messaging on mobile phones, and each reminder message prompts a response that is recorded in the user’s adherence report. Users can view reports summarizing adherence and share the information with their healthcare provider or caretaker.

With Care4Family, you can add photos for each of your loved ones.  You can add your own image of the medication so you – or your loved one- knows what it looks like.  If it isn’t already in the Care4Today database, it’s just a few quick steps to add your own image. This makes things really clear and easy to find if something happens and someone needs information quickly.  I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve needed medical information and realized it was at home- and I’m just me.  Being able to manage all of this- and even have my husband send me reminders to refill my meds BEFORE I get down to 1 pill left is going to hopefully keep me on track with my meds.

Who would you want to use this app with/for?