MobiHealthNews took a look at Apple's top picks of medical apps in the AppStore. Their offerings span seven categories and 88 apps and run the gamut of surgical simulation training, medication dosing, EMRs, fitness tracking and more. They are organized to be used by physicians, nurses or other healthcare professionals, medical students and patients. Prices for apps are noted as listed, although many were free or available through a subscription to organizations, publications or plans.
Here are the top apps Apple recommends for those in the healthcare space:
Reference
UptoDateis a free clinical decision support tool that features drug topics and recommendations that clinicians can use at point of care. To date, it has been the subject of over 30 research studies.
Doximity- Medical Networkis a professional network used by 60 percent of clinicians in the US. It can be accessed on mobile and web platforms and syncs with AppleWatch.
Epocrates Reference Toolthere are two options for this app – the Essentials for $159.99 or Epocrates Plus for $174.99. The app provides information to clinicians at the point of care, including drug prescribing and safety information, medical news and research information and health care insurance formulary databases.
Medscapeis a free app that offers virtual consultations between physicians and specialists and provides a host of medical information including drug dosing and interactions.
Omniogives clinicians quick access to relevant medical information with resources from organizations such as the American Diabetes Association and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.
NEJM This Weekoffers the latest medical research findings, review articles and editorial opinions from the New England Journal of Medicine.
Merck Manual Professionalthis medical reference app has so much content to keep up with the pace of available clinical information, it can take up to 15 minutes to download and install. It contains practical explanations for thousands of conditions in all major medical and surgical specialties.
LabGear, at $2.99 is a tool for medical laboratory tests for all healthcare professionals. It offers a comprehensive library of lab tests across eight different systems and chemistry panels, and also features schematics for present testing panels.
ASCO Journals JCO JOPa free app version of the Journal of Clinical Oncology that connects to the user’s institutional subscription. Users can register their devices while on the network.
PubMed On Tap, for $2.99, has reference information and pdfs of full articles for those with a subscription. Users can search and organize their reference library, and email references from their device to their self or others in a form suitable for reading or importing into desktop reference management applications.
Medicine Centralthe app includes a five-minute physician consultation feature and a host of resources from Davis’s Drug Guide, McGraw-Hill’s Diagnosaurus, Pocket Guide to Diagnostic Tests and Prime (formerly Unbound Medline). The app is free but requires a current paid subscription to online Medicine Central service.
Prime, the app formerly known as Unbound Medline connects users to up-to-date journal citations and abstracts from the complete PubMed database.
Hopkins Guidesoffers a set of medical guides from Johns Hopkins University including diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases (Called ABX, for $29.99), HIV ($59.99), psychiatry ($29.99) and diabetes ($29.99).
AHRQ ePSSis an app developed by the US Department of Health & Human Services-AHRQ and works to assist primary care clinicians in identifying the screening, counseling and preventive medication services that are appropriate for their patients.
Medical Education
Essential Anatomy 5. This $24.99 per year medical study and reference app has 1.1 million user engagements every month. It uses 3D technology to feature over 8,200 structures spanning 11 systems including skin, skeletal, muscles and veins. Quizzes, image sharing and audio pronunciation guides for both Latin and English are also available, and app users and create customized pins and notations throughout the models.
Human Anatomy Atlasis a $24.99 reference for healthcare professionals and in anatomy courses. It includes all body systems, comprehensive gross anatomy of the male and female and definitions, disease descriptions and practice quizzes. There are over 5,000 structures for each model.
Figure 1. Medical professionals use this app to recognize rare conditions, enhance medical knowledge, share information with the global medical community and communicate with each other from remote or isolated locations.
Spine Decide. It costs $74.99 for the full content of this educational tool that uses 3D images to simplify common spinal conditions and treatments.
Heart Pro III. Made in collaboration with Stanford University School of Medicine, this app was originally featured in the WWDC Keynote in 2012. For $4.99, this app offers 360, 3D horizontal images that can be rotated with a finger swipe, animations, quizzes, audio pronunciations and more.
UCSF NeuroExam. This $19.99 app was developed by the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine to help medical students get over “neurophobia” – the fear of conducting a neurological physical exam.
Touch Surgery. Touting itself as “the OR in your pocket,” this app is a surgical simulator used by over a million medical professionals spanning four languages.
myCME. This is the app version of the popular online source of continuing medical education for healthcare professionals. The app is free, but requires a subscription to myCME. With the app, users can choose activities tailored to each specialty, upload and store CME/CE certificates from any source in one place, set goals, purchase courses from myCME and more.
Muscle System Pro III. This $4.99 app is the iPhone version of a program developed in collaboration with Stanford and now used by most universities as a standard reference and learning tool of muscle systems. It features animations, pronunciations, maps and more.
Pocket Anatomy is a $14.99 app for medical students to boost their anatomy knowledge. It’s a 3D human body rendering wherein students can quickly retrieve any structure and relevant clinical information, plus animations.
Learn Muscles is $2.99 reference guide, testing and educational tool featuring images, pronunciation guides, quizzes, models and videos to learn the muscular system.
Eponyms (for students). A free app with short descriptions of more than 1,700 common and obscure medical names and words.
Skeletal System Pro III. This $4.99 app, also developed with Stanford, helps medical students learn the skeletal system via 360 degree rotations of any body part, animations, quizzes, color mapping of certain bones and the ability to draw and make notations on the screen.
RealCMEThis free app is available to health professionals who are continuing their medical education. It enables clinicians to stay up to date with information and requirements.
Heart Murmur Pro. For $2.99, users can learn heart murmurs by listening to 23 heart sounds plus a trove of clinically relevant information, like the best location to hear each murmur, the etiology, treatment options and more.
EMR & Patient Monitoring
Epic Haikuprovides authorized clinical users of Epic’s HER with secure access to clinic schedules, hospital patient lists, health summaries, test results and notes. Also supports dictation and In Basket access.
PowerChart Touch offers providers the ability to complete both ambulatory and inpatient workflows, including schedule reviewing, physician handoff, photography, review results, reports and medication orders, and review create and sign notes.
SAP EMR Unwired. This app gives physicians and nurses easy, secure access to patient data at the point of care and connects to clinical back-end systems such as hospital information and imaging systems.
Medisoftenables clinicians to electronically capture charges and diagnoses using an electronic superbill.
Kardiaworks with clinically-validated Kardia Mobile – a mobile EKG solution that allows healthcare professionals to capture an EKG in 30 seconds. The app tracks data like paliptations, shortness of breath, dietary habits and sleep and exercise patterns.
Lytecenables clinicians to transmit charges, diagnosis codes and notes to biller or front desk from anywhere with an internet connection.
Airstrip OB is intended for use by obstetricians who deliver babies, and they must first purchase and install the AirStrip OB System. The app shows fetal heart tracing, pertinent patient data like vital signs, labor status and maternal waveform data. Users can also scroll through historical data.
Allscripts Remote +enables healthcare providers to remotely control their Allscripts EHR and make difficult medical decisions when out of the office, at the hospital, on call or on personal time.
Care360 Mobile for Physicians is an app from Quest Diagnostics for medical providers that allows them to access their medical office anywhere and anytime.
AirStrip. This is a remote patient monitoring system that connects anywhere with a wireless connection, allowing doctors to clinically assess patients and offer treatment plans.
Sunrise Mobile MD IIis an iPhone-native, free app that extends a hospital’s EHR to mobile devices, allowing doctors and nurses to manage daily activities with Apple’s technology.
MPF Mobile Deficiency, the McKesson Patient Folder is an app for clinicians to complete work assignments whenever it is convenient, shortening document completion times and making their workflow more efficient.
Nursing
CareAwareConnectworks to improve clinical workflow through voice communication, text messaging and alerting.
Epic Roveroffers authorized clinical users of Epic’s EHR to secure access tools for clinical review, patient list management, medication administration, specimen collection, vitals and I/O on their iPhone or iPod Touch.
Vocera Care Experienceis an app for care providers to help educate patients about what to do and expect before and after hospital visits. It includes tools to enhance discharge instructions, pre-admission others and other directives.
NCLEX RN Mastery 2016offers all of its content with a one-time, $29.99 purchase to practice the NCLEX test. It contains over 1,800 practice questions, quizzes, mnemonics and strategies.
Skyscape Medical Libraryoffers 10 different libraries within the app, each sold separately and ranging from $1.99 to $179.99. This decision-support tool for healthcare professionals offers over 400 resources/titles from leading publishers, authors and medical societies.
Vocera Alarm Managementmakes response to critical patient health alarms faster and more informed by offering contextual evidence like waveforms and vital signs to the caregiver on smartphones and tablets.
NurseTab Fundamentals is a $9.99 app for new nurses and nursing students to access over 120 skills and procedures separated by topic areas. Nurses and students use the app to try out skills based on what they learned through fundamental courses, offering step-by-step approaches to specific procedures.
PatientTouchconnects frontline clinicians to their patients, care team, and existing EHR infrastructure, including medication administration, care interventions and patient assignment.
Nursing Centraloffers a host of options ranging from $42.99 to $169.99 for the full program. It offers nurses and students detailed information on diseases, tests, drugs, and procedures.
Medigram is a secure group messaging application to improve care coordination and communication in the hospital.
NurseTabs: Medsurg is a $9.99 app for novice nurses and nursing students to search for over 340 common diseases and disorders, separated by body system. Simple explanations of each disease or disorder and nursing approach to managing care.
Lab Values Referenceis a $4.99 app for nurses and other healthcare professionals that offers a reference guide on tests based on the body system, lab test, panels and factors affecting the lab results.
Lexicompan app for students and clinicians (with a Lexicomp subscription) to access answers about medication questions at the point of care.
Imaging
Mobile MIMApp uses software program for viewing, registration, fusion and display of diagnosis of medical images from SPECT, PET, CT, MRI, X-Ray and Ultrasound. Should only be used when there is no access to a full workstation.
OsiriX HD. This $49.99 app is the mobile version of DICOM: the digital standard for storing and transferring medical images, plus downloading and manipulating images.
eyeRadis an app for medical professionals who need to view medical images including radiographs, CT, MRIs and the like when at the bedside, at a conference or otherwise away from a diagnostic workstation.
ImageInboxwas built on the idea that it is the patient’s legal right to get an electronic copy of their radiology exams, and offers an easy way to download, store and share their medical images and diagnostic reports.
Centricity Radiologyis made by GE Healthcare and offers healthcare professionals the ability to share images and reports for diagnosis, review and analysis of CT and MRIs. Like others, it should only be used when a full diagnostic workstation is not available.
CTisus iQuizthe app version of a standard radiology education quiz.
Siemans syngo working via the WebReport application, this offers anytime access to written diagnostic reports and image data. Cannot work without the synga.via product from Siemens AG Healthcare.
Patient Education
Heart Decide. At $74.99 for all the content, this app serves as an educational tool for patients by simplifying complex heart conditions and treatments, and uses fully interactive 3D anatomical models that can be manipulated through a finger swipe.
FINR Brain Atlas$1.99 gives you the whole brain – explore the anatomy of the brain and common brain injuries in a 3D model.
Heart Pro III(also for physicians) Made in collaboration with Stanford University School of Medicine, this app was originally featured in the WWDC Keynote in 2012. For $4.99, this app offers 360, 3D horizontal images that can be rotated with a finger swipe, animations, quizzes, audio pronunciations and more.
Medical Spanish: HealthcareA $5.99 medical phrasebook to facilitate communication between English and Spanish speakers. Written and designed by an Apple engineer, this app acts as a personal interpreter on call 24/7.
Medical French: Healthcare$4.99 for a phrasebook app that closely mimics native speech with questions and instructions that are phrased in a “yes” or “no” format.
Muscle Trigger PointsA $2.99 reference for trigger points and referral patterns for 108 muscles and 160 trigger points.
MediBabble Translatoris a free, professional-grade medical interpretation app for healthcare providers.
HealthTap for Providersis both a network for physicians to boost their income, learn practical clinical information from their peers, find new patients and also conduct Virtual Practice visits.
Foot Decidea $74.99 educational tool featuring full interactive 3D anatomical models that can be manipulated with a finger swipe, this includes multiple videos and animations depicting common foot conditions and surgical non-operative treatments.
HealthKit-Enabled
Mayo Clinicapp offers anytime access to Mayo Clinic expertise. If users are Mayo Clinic patients, they can access medical record, get appointment reminders or connect with their care team.
MyChartworks with existing MyChart account to manage your health information and communicate with doctors on devices including the Apple Watch. Users can review test results, medications, immunizations and more; stay in touch with their doctor; manage appointments; upload health and fitness data – including Apple Health app – when the user is enrolled in self-tracking programs; and view and pay bills.
AskMDthis free app bills itself as “more than just a symptom checker” by helping the user to find out what possibly might be causing symptoms, assist in finding a doctor and organize health goals.
Health Mateis a $4.99 app that tracks everyday activity and heart rate using sensors in the iPhone. Users can “challenge” with friends and connect with Withings’ line of health trackers for health coaching.
Onpatient PHRthis app takes the user’s personal health record to allow messaging, appointment scheduling and sharing of information with doctors.
mySugr DiabetesRanging from $2.99 to $199.99 information and coaching plans, this companion for people with diabetes automatically syncs data from a connected device via Bluetooth with on-demand diabetes educators to offer patients constant support during clinic visits.
Every Body Walk!An app that features walking workouts, progress tracking and credit-building for saving redemption at Walgreens. This app also integrates with other health apps to get users credit for walking workouts.
HealthTapthis free app gives users instant, personalized answers from more than 105,000 US doctors via text chat, or users can pay for a virtual consult to video or text chat with a primary care doctor of their choice during virtual office hours.
WebMD Trusted HealthEverything WebMD offers in an app – symptom checker, medication reminders, targeted health goals, medicine information and more.
Hello Heart$179.99 for this app that aims to make it easy to track and understand your blood pressure, enabling users to manage their heart health risks and improve any existing conditions.
Amwell: Live Doctor Visit Nowintegrates with Apple Health to bring the telehealth service on a mobile device, 24/7.
Kinsa Smart ThermometerThe companion app for Kinsa’s wireless Smart Ear thermometer or Smart Stick thermometer, this allows users to track temperature, symptoms and medication for each family member and remembers details around when symptoms began, medication adherence and more. Users can share info with another caregiver or doctor.
iHealth Gluco-Smartan app to automatically record test results of blood glucose monitors. Users can also add the free, secure cloud service for a mobile testing system wherever they are.
Qardio Heart, Health, Weightan app for weight management, blood pressure and heart health that requires the Qardio connected devices – the blood pressure monitor or smart scale.
iThermonitora fever-monitoring app that shows the duration and intensity of the user’s fever for each episode. The free app also combines temperature chart and fever-related events so the doctor can understand fever progression in a more informed way. Can connect with multiple iThermonitor sensors.
PatientIObills itself as “a treatment plan in your pocket,” the free app offers treatment-specific reminders, tasks and education from your provider sent directly to smartphone and watch.
HealthLoopa method of staying connected with your physician between visits. Includes mobile check-ins, notifications, guidance for recovery and more.
HealthyNow, free, mobile complement to Cerner Wellness Health Portal. Offers activity logs, messaging, medication management, event and incentive management and social media integration.
HumanaVitalityfree app for members of HumanaVitality plan, this is a wellness and rewards program that connects with a number of devices like activity tracking wearables and apps.