Nice pic, guys. Sorry to hear about your, um, difficulties.

Based on the pic, the tag is definitely apropos.

Why don't they just put a bunch of chemicals into one drug and call it cool

@ngallion: On the bright side, Dr. Spacemen's one of the best in that, uh, field. Or so I've heard.

Now if only I could get my illiterate and old patients to use a computer. They can hardly work the debit machine.

I regularly get calls that go like this: "Yeah I need to refill my stuff."

"Okay, which medicine do you need?"

"I dunno, don't you have it there on the computer?" A lot of people literally have no idea what they take or why. I wish they CR could implant a view screen in people's chests for the inevitable med list call from the ED.

This app looks like it would be very handy for tracking other things, like vitamins, supplements, etc.

A poorly written piece of software.
It requires you to fill in too many fields.
Such as when you first started a drug, who remembers that for maintenance drugs?
It also requires you to type in the drugs form, tab, capsule, liquid, etc., that should be a drop down arrow with the forms listed.
The same for the frequency of use, that should also be a drop down.
It should also automatically alphabetize or just have yo click to do so.

I know I'll get flamed for kvetching about free software, but it could have been a lot better.
They need to start over & improve it!

@Sockatume: He's also a "pretty good" dentist.

@Greasy Thumb Guzik:
I make my own drug ingestion tracking software at home!

I also make my own drugs!

@Greasy Thumb Guzik: I think they also need a method-of-taking-this-drug box, to keep track of what exactly it is they're supposed to be doing with that powder ("sprinkle on affected body part" one would assume, but it could be "mix 1tsp with 1 cup of water and drink before physical activity") Even with pills, are you supposed to eat that with food or without food?

I don't really need something like this now, but when I was doing IVF treatments and had tons of drugs that changed all the time based on blood test results, it would have been nice, especially if I could have had it handy when the doc's office called with the drug change info.

Bonus points if it properly lists the pregnancy/breastfeeding classifications of drugs, because it's scary how many doctors don't know offhand if a given drug is pregnancy-safe or not. Does anyone know if this includes that info? I couldn't tell from the writeup on the site.

@NancyCpants: Or at least a scannable microchip that has data-updating capability.

@henneko: Hmm, you've given me a fun idea ... I think I'll try sprinkling Lexapro on my body and see what happens.

@ElizabethD: This could also include a kill switch for the death panels, so nobody has to get all maudlin about the decision to take someone offline.

@kaceetheconsumer: You can also try Google Health, which keeps an online record of your complete medical history. There's all sorts of privacy implications and risks, obviously, but it's more comprehensive and also free. Up to you.

[www.google.com]

@ngallion: That got me some looks for laughing in the office.

Funny!

Based on this, I could make a spreadsheet on my own and not download the app. But it's a good idea.

Heh. I'm liking the 30 Rock reference.

I need an application that tells me the earliest time to refill. Having a medicare D policy, I can't call in a refill if the CVS computer says I have more the 6 doses left. Inevitably, I do without when preauthorizations, refills glitches and denials occur. CVS rapid refill does not work! Especially when Caremark is your medicare D insurance carrier!

Consumer Reports should be careful with this app. By adding drug interactions in this software (other than just tracking), you might be treading into FDA territory. I spent 10 years developing medical software and the requirements for the development and distribution of this type of software can be onerous.

For example, if there is an error in the interactions database that could cause a "negative outcome", how do you know how to get a hold of all of the users to have them update and warn them about the potential problems?

You could just ask your pharmacist who is better equipped than a computer to interpret drug interactions (which by the way is usually either under or hyper sensitive to data).

I am all for every bit of this software minus the drug interactions.

@Greasy Thumb Guzik:
It's also a fairly small window with no way of resizing it. I installed it mainly because this article gave the impression it would tell you about drug interactions from the entered meds... um, I certainly wouldn't call a text field where I can write in what side effects I've had to a drug the same thing as a way to "watch out for potential interactions."

This is an interesting program. The interface needs a little work. You really don't need to put a dialog box to tell me that it saved the input, that would save a click, especially when you enter the number of drugs that I needed to enter (and that's the current list, not my complete history). I don't see the need to put WHEN I started something, because after a year, does it matter? Or just allow entering the month and year would be nice.

I find the requirements for user ID and password to be a bit extreme. Come on, I'm not installing this on a public machine.

An Excel spreadsheet/template would do everything this does just as well in my opinion, and easier to make corrections and enter the information to begin with.

And this software really has nothing to do with drug interactions.

@Greasy Thumb Guzik:

Actually typing in this information is much better than a drop down box considering not every medication is "take on by mouth daily" How do you get drop down boxes for the 100+ or so sig codes like "take 2 tablets for 3 days, then 1 and 1/2 tablets for 3 days, then 1 tablet for 2 days, then 1/2 tablet until gone?"

When you started a drug is very important, especially for figuring out drug side effects.

Some peoples medications are so complex you can't put a drop down menu for everything. It is much easier just to type it in.

@Phexerian:
1. Very few people take drugs on such a complicated schedule as you posited. If someone is on such a complex dosing schedule, then type it out in Word & save it that way.
2. In regard to the start date, the software requires you to enter one to go to the advanced level of data. You obviously didn't try it out or you would have discovered this stupidity.
The start date shouldn't be a required field, in fact, all of the fields should have been optional.

Again, it's a poorly written piece of software, it should be withdrawn, rewritten & then have regular people test it out to find any new flaws in it before a rerelease!