There’s been a flurry of “Top Ten (free) Medical iPhone Apps” lists gracing the homepages of a number of health blogs and publications this week. Because of the iTunes’ AppStore’s popularity, trying to pin down the Top Ten Free Apps in a given category is like trying to shoot a moving target. If you believe recent studies, chances are anyone who downloaded one of these apps last week won’t be using it for much longer.
That said, the headline of this post is a bit tongue-in-cheek, because by tomorrow or even by tonight this list will probably be dated, too. Furthermore, I guarantee you these are not the true top 10 free iPhone Medical Apps. There is no easy way to determine whether Apps are worth the time to explore right now and no authoritative source for mHealth app reviews. These are just the ones that happen to be getting the most downloads currently.
But for the sake of at least timely reporting: Here are the real top ten iPhone medical apps, which include one new app that was not included on other lists and also sees some rank-shifting:
1. Epocrates – This app lets users view continually updated clinical data, check for drug-drug interaction, identify pills by physical characteristics and perform medical calculations such as BMI and GRF. We wrote about it a few weeks ago.
2. Skyscape Medical Resources – Skyscape’s app includes resources like RxDrugs, evidence-based clinical information on conditions and symptoms, Archimedes Medical Calculator, and MedAlert drug information.
3. EyeChart – The Snellen Eye Chart is an eye chart for testing visual acuity. The app instructs users to hold the iPhone eye chart about four feet away instead of the typical 20 feet.
4. MedCalc (medical calculator) – MedCalc is a medical calculator that gives the user access to an array of medical formulas and scores.
5. Taber’s Medical Dictionary – Taber’s Medical Dictionary app includes more than 60,000 terms, 1,000 photos and 600 Patient Care Statements. The app also offers definitions and other resources, including nutrition and alternative therapy, coverage, medical abbreviations, and units of measurements.
6. Davis’s Drug Guide – Davis’s Drug Guide provides info on more than 5,000 trade name and generic drugs. This app includes info on other drug/natural/food interactions, appendices with dose calculations, customizable bookmarking and patient safety infor.
7. Eponyms (for students) – Eponyms displays a short description from more than 1,600 medical eponyms (ex. Sheehan’s syndrome, Virchow’s node).
8. ShyBladder – ShyBladder helps those who have trouble getting things started in the restroom. The app offers three different sounds of running water. (Maybe others were too afraid to include this on the list? Seriously, its number 8.)
9. STAT ICD-9 LITE – STAT ICD-9 LITE provides all 13,677 ICD-9-CD diagnosis codes to the user’s iPhone.
10. PubMed On Top Lite – PubMed On Tap Lite searches PubMed to provide and display reference information. The app includes EZproxy support, internal Web browser, option to email results in text or RIS form, advanced search options andthe ability to store and recall recent searches.
So which app is no longer officially in the top 10 because of ShyBladder? Cardio Calc. This app designed help manage patients with cardiovascular disease or hyperlipidemia by providing Framingham and Reynolds Risk scores as well as CHADS2 score.
Those are the most popular. Which Apps not listed here should be on the list but aren’t?
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The image above is a series of screenshots from the MiM iPhone App, which didn’t make the list.
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A.D.A.M. has an iPhone App, too
March 12th, 2009 at 1:28 am
[...] The real top ten iPhone medical apps [...]
March 14th, 2009 at 12:57 am
This is a really great top ten list, I’ve been using epocrates for a long time, but thanks for these other recommendations. You can post this to our site http://www.toptentopten.com/ and then link back to your site. We are looking for top ten lists and our users can track back to your site. The coolest feature is you can let other people vote on the rankings of your list.
March 17th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
[...] Articles: iPhone app iTriage offers help for health bills The real top ten medical iPhone apps Video: Profile of doctor who uses Epocrates on iPhone Yet another iPhone Pill Tracker App: iPills [...]
May 12th, 2009 at 6:20 pm
There are some medical pronunciation apps on iTunes that I found helpful as a 1st year pharma student. There is one out for drug pronunciations and I think they’re coming out with a microbio and anatomy one, too.
June 19th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
[...] is viewable by BB users only), it’s spawned a number of lists for health-related applications many of which are outdated as soon as they publish because of the growing number of applications hosted by the [...]
June 25th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Have you seen the new SonoSite app SonoAccess (www.sonosite.com/products/sonoaccess)? This one is a new app in the iTunes store, and is already in the top 20 free medical apps! It is the first iPhone app from an ultrasound company and seems to be the only iPhone app like it that I have seen with the access to technique videos, reimbursement information guides, clinical images. Check it out…definitely beats some of the apps listed.
July 7th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Another medical app that is more general is the “iEmergency” ICE medical app (http://www.iemergency.us) Epocrates is really good and worth downloading
July 22nd, 2009 at 7:37 pm
There are some slick apps out there as noted. There are also web apps that are optimized for the iPhone and that utilize some of the embedded iPhone functions and presentations. TouchMedMobile falls more into the category of the latter. I’m sure there are others.
July 30th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
[...] we have noted before, because of the iTunes AppStore’s popularity, trying to pin down the Top Ten Free Apps in a [...]
August 10th, 2009 at 9:30 am
Do you know of a mobile app that assist with mental health work.
Needs task tracking with calendar for 30, 60, 90 day events and reminders
plus possible coding for billing as well?
Just curious
Thanks
October 22nd, 2009 at 6:23 pm
Another app is iCME. Lets you track, sort, plan and email your CME list directly from your iPhone!
November 6th, 2009 at 4:59 pm
This is a very nice list. I also like the DocGuide app for tracking news stories and abstracts. It’s more refined than a simple PubMed search.
November 13th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
I’m the author of a cardiac arrest intervention recorder app (so I’m a little bias), but the list seems a little light on EMS applications.
November 13th, 2009 at 4:51 pm
Nick,
Thanks for the comment. This is a list of the most popular iPhone medical apps on that particular day in March. Apple ranks its apps by popularity so these are the tops apps as they were earlier this year. If EMS is not represented, it’s because those were not popular at the time.
Brian
December 11th, 2009 at 9:20 pm
Try taking a look at Jambinnovations.com – they offer some great new medical iphone applications such as uBurn and uPregnant.
December 29th, 2009 at 4:41 pm
You forgot the PEPID Medical Information Resources iPhone App which includes the PEPID drug database, calculators, toxicology, and diagnosis aid.
December 30th, 2009 at 6:16 am
No, PEPID was not a top app — these were listed on iTunes as most popular at the time. Has PEPID been in the top ten most popular medical apps on iTunes before or since?
December 31st, 2009 at 5:02 am
[...] 1. The real top ten iPhone medical apps [...]
January 18th, 2010 at 4:56 pm
Do a search on “Drugs and Meds” in the iTunes store to get some really good drug references. I found one that shows a picture of every pill with a description of what it is and does, which was very nice.
January 22nd, 2010 at 1:54 pm
Rapitube is an advanced airway management app. Rapitube drug doses are presented for standard rapid sequence intubation (RSI), as well as the standard equipment sizes. This includes both adult and pediatric doses. Just came out 1/1/10
January 25th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
If you are interested in alternative medicine iCaduceus provides excellent information to medical professionals. It allows you to look up treatments based on conditions. I like it for my practice because many of my patients don’t want drugs for their conditions. I can give them an alternative in some cases and amazingly they report that it works.
February 18th, 2010 at 10:17 am
Brian, this may be a little late, as this article is from nearly a year ago, but is it possible to see actual number of downloads for these Apps, or any currently popular medical apps? I am currently working on developing a new app to fit in the medical category and was trying to do some research on what is already popular.
March 3rd, 2010 at 1:19 pm
I recommend FORMULARY for anyone studying or working in the UK. It gives you quick and easy access to the full BNF (British national Formulary). A must have for any UK-based doctor or medical student, and only costs £3.
March 7th, 2010 at 9:52 pm
Check out our latest medical app from http://www.bigforge.com. We would love to help you build your own app, please check us out!
http://www.bigforge.com/psychup/