Maureen Smith lives with a rare disorder known as Congenital Panhypopituitarism.
Affecting one in every 200,000 people, Congenital Panhypopituitarism is a condition where the pituitary gland fails to produce growth hormone and, as the master gland, stimulate all the endocrine hormones, regulate body functions like metabolism, growth and development, tissue function and mood.
The condition had a severe impact on Maureen's quality of life until she got on a regime of medications that enabled her to trade in her walker for running shoes, and quite frankly saved her life.
To ensure she gets the medications she needs to replace the hormones her body doesn't produce, Maureen uses a free app called MyMedRec.
Based on the web platform Knowledge is the Best Medicine (KiBM), MyMedRec, - available for the iPhone, Android and BlackBerry 10 - empowers people to use their smartphones as a tool to better manage a wide range of information that will help them and their healthcare professionals administer their medications safely and appropriately. MyMedRec's easy-to-use interface puts medication and immunization information at a person's fingertips, helping Canadians take better control of their healthcare.
"I manage multiple medications that I take six times throughout the day," says Maureen, who lives in Ottawa. "The best feature of the app is its adaptability; there are so many options, you can really personalize it to meet your needs."
"MyMedRec has been an excellent tool to help me keep track of my medications and set reminders for the ones I may forget," she adds.
Available globally, MyMedRec was developed by seven of Canada's leading healthcare organizations -the Canadian Nurses Association, the Canadian Pharmacists Association, the Canadian Medical Association, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada, the Victorian Order of Nurses, the Best Medicines Coalition, and Canada's Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (Rx&D) - to ensure patients and their healthcare teams have all the information they need, when they need it.
The app's features include refill and dose reminders, and the ability to store medication histories and multiple patient profiles, emails and pictures, as well as contact information of prescribers and pharmacies. MyMedRec can also record clinical outcomes such as blood pressure and cholesterol, set dose reminders and share information with clinicians via email.
For those who do not have a SmartPhone, the KiBM website (www.knoweldgeisthebestmedicine.org) itself offers a wide range of tools to help people take better control of their health. Working with healthcare providers and pharmacists, it enables people to manage their medications safely and effectively.
The tools available at the KiBM website include an up-to-date medication list, downloadable medication records, communications channels to share your medication and health needs at each point of contact with the health system and easy access to required information about your medications and health.
It is estimated that as many as half of all medications are not taken as prescribed, leading the World Health Organization to make safe medicine use a priority. Several studies have shown that responsible and appropriate use of medications leads to better health outcomes and reduces hospitalizations -- which also leads to reduced costs and stress on the health-care system.
"Our industry is deeply committed to educating Canadian patients about the safe use of medication and the importance of adhering to treatment," says Russell Williams, President of Rx&D. "For patients, understanding medications, including safety issues, is so important to managing health. Almost 60 per cent of Canadians are using a smartphone today, and this is a handy tool they will always have with them.
"An educated patient is a healthier patient."
To download the free app, visit www.knowledgeisthebestmedicine.org.
- Russell Williams is the President of Canada's Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (Rx&D). For more information on the innovative pharmaceutical industry's commitment to the developing world, please visit www.canadapharma.org/globalcompassion.
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