Why Use Technology in Health
Many of us wish there was an-in-one ideal app to help manage Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) so patients and their caregivers could have an easier time managing health data, symptoms, doctors, medical records and more.
Everyone knows healthcare is going digital, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is likely to change the landscape of the future. There are interesting potential uses for AI in complex medical conditions like EDS, as shared in this NPR article. AI could cause a disruptive transformation, leaving the healthcare industry on the brink of revolution and transform the experience of care. But we’re not there yet. Don’t worry, your trained doctors will not be replaced, but more likely assisted in areas where they can focus more time with patients instead of time-consuming tasks like clinical documentation. Some articles say that AI Scribe could reduce documentation time by 70-90% so efficiency. The uses of AI as a mainstream topic is hot, and we could go on discussing the many potential uses of AI in medicine, but that’s a whole other article for another day.
Currently, technology in medicine means enjoying the ease of access to your online medical records and doctor visit notes afforded by online patient portals, but there’s more available now to assist with the challenges of chronic illness, especially in mobile applications – known as ‘apps.’ With more coming everyday as explosive growth happens in health technology investing in apps. And yes, there’s even medical research on the quality, usability and effectiveness of what the industry sector refers to as mHealth apps. Some apps are further advanced in helping syncronize medical data with symptoms, medication management and more. But this is an area to watch over the coming years.
Why Health Apps Are Critical
With an increase in chronic disease prevalence today rising to a staggering 120 million Americans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the illness epidemic is taking a big toll on public health in terms of both costs and quality of life. The CDC estimates that chronic diseases account for 70% of U.S. deaths and 75% of U.S. health care spending. While some recent international surveys found that the US healthcare system was rated as the worst in the world.
We have a big problem and maybe technology can help. Yet while it catches up to patients and provider demands to power better care, many personal use solutions, such as mobile apps, are bridging a gap between doctors and patients. For now, it’s a unique space where technology can aid connection and data sharing with evidence-based information and tools for logging disease-related data. Some of these apps are already tracing health data trends to predict patterns that can inform future treatment and management strategies, to say the least.
As a result, digital health apps continue to be on the rise. According to a 2017 report by the IQVIA Institute, there were 318,500 mobile health apps that year—a number that was growing by 200 each day. Of these, 40 percent are dedicated to the management of a range of illnesses, most commonly heart disease, diabetes, musculoskeletal conditions, and mental health issues such as anxiety, depression, autism, ADHD, and Alzheimer’s. And studies suggest they work, alleviating the burden on the health care system while boosting patients’ ability to live better with long-term disease and illness. The study shows evidence that indicates the potential of apps in improving symptom management through self-management interventions. This study reviews the use of an app to specifically assist with the challenging diagnostic journey for hypermobile EDS.
However, one challenge facing digital health apps in mHealth is that they are difficult to sell directly to consumer patients, making the patient group an unlikely source of paying customers because many are already burdened with expensive medical bills and disability-related loss of income. Another barrier is that typical apps that people might spring for are designed for leisure, gaming or entertainment, while most don’t see managing chronic illness as leisure, but a necessity or a chore. As a result, many digital health apps for managing chronic disease have not yet been widely adopted, despite the growing numbers of chronic pain and illness.
Top 25 Best of Health Mobile Apps for EDS Management
Despite the consumer reluctance, there are a few good apps to leverage in various ways to enhance and inform the patient-provider relationship and your self-care management routine. Plus, the tracking helps you and your doctor understand your patterns and trends – and provides the data to back you up so you don’t get gaslighted! We curated a list of the top 25 apps that we thought were beneficial for EDS patients and those with chronic illnesses, focusing on symptom tracking, mood management, medication management, movement, deploying coping skills and more (indicating if they’re free or paid) for your digital health needs:
1. The Zebra Club– Paid: Offers tailored movement therapy sessions specifically designed for EDS and hypermobility by a fellow patient who became a physical therapist, Jeannie DiBon.
2. Guava– Free/Premium: A newer app on the market, it provides personalized health insights and data management securely, designed for comprehensive chronic illness management and enhancing wellness practices at your fingertips.
3. MyFitnessPal – Free/Premium: Long-time app to help track diet, hydration and exercise, important for managing related health conditions.
4. Medisafe – Free: Aids in medication management and adherence with reminders and tracking.
5. Bearable – Free/Premium: Comprehensive symptom and mood tracker with a focus on daily health management.
6. Symple – Free: Simple symptom tracking and journaling, integrates with Apple Health.
7. CareZone: Free: Designed to help users manage their health information and access health services, particularly useful for people with complex health needs.
8. Health Storylines – Free: Allows creation of a personalized health journal with symptom tracking and community to develop self-care practices.
9. PillPack – Free: Alternative online pharmacy services through an app for managing medications and refills with free shipping to your home.
10 My Pain Diary – Paid: Enables users to record and track chronic pain and its triggers and share data with doctors.
11. MyTherapy – Free: Combines medication management and RX reminders with a refill reminder app to help people stick to their prescriptions and supplements plus patient diary features.
12. Flaredown – Free: Tracks symptoms, triggers, and treatments for chronic pain, providing insights and trends with charts showing how symptoms change over time.
13. Calm – Paid: Robust meditation and relaxation exercises to manage stress and anxiety including sleep stories, affirmations and more. Headspace or Insight Timer – Provides free guided meditations and mindfulness exercises.
14. HeartWatch: Paid: An app that gives users a comprehensive view of their heart rates throughout the day.
15. SuperBetter – Free/Premium: Gamifies mental health strategies for improvement and resilience building and allows groups or private game challenges.
16. Talkspace – Paid: Offers various types of virtual therapy or self-directed therapy (accepts insurance) and helps connect users with therapists for mental health support online.
17. Sleep Cycle – Free/Premium: Analyzes sleep patterns to improve sleep quality.
18. Curable – Free/Premium: Offers education and mind-body techniques for chronic pain management.
19. Find Me Gluten Free – Paid: Helps user locate gluten free restaurants and chains by location.
20. Dateability: Paid: Inclusive dating app for the disabled and chronically ill communities.
21. Wheelmap – Free: Maps accessible places for those using wheelchairs or with mobility issues.
22. Visible: Free/Premium: An app designed for people living with Long Covid and/or chronic fatigue that helps with pacing and energy management using HRV.
23. My Medical ID – Free/Premium: Stores medical information, useful in emergencies and for routine care.
24. Ada – Free: Simple symptom checker to help you find answers on symptoms and review possible causes.
25. Healp: Free: A health social network where you can meet people with the same conditions and browse community resources, find healthcare solutions and clinical trials.
If there are other apps that are beneficial to you, feel free to add them to the comments so we can expand our best of mHealth apps for EDS patients.
