More than a decade ago, Apple coined the slogan, “There’s an app for that.” Years later, that phrase has only gotten truer.
Nearly any way to monitor your health — and many ways to improve it — can be found with at least one app or technology platform. Want access to your health records? They’re a few taps away. Interested in tracking your heart rate, sleep, or step count? Take your pick of apps. Even your doctor’s office probably has an app for checking in and tracking your appointment information.
Health app privacy is always a concern, though, especially when you’re sharing personal and private information. This is why the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has created a Medicare App Library. The new website links you to healthcare apps and other digital tools to help you connect with your doctor and improve your health, all while protecting your online safety.
What to know about the Medicare App Library
The Medicare App Library is a directory of apps that center around safely providing data and access to Medicare beneficiaries. The app store focuses on mobile and web applications, digital health platforms, and care delivery tools. CMS has worked with developers to make sure the apps are easy to use, clinically proven, and meet CMS’s data privacy standards. Apps and technology on the list have agreed to:
- Meet CMS’s expectations for protecting and exchanging health information.
- Not sell or share your health information.
- Have built-in identity verification.
- Access only the Medicare data you authorize to be shared.
The app store is new and still accepting applications from developers, but there are a handful of apps already in the library. The ones currently available are:
- Flexpa and HealthEx, which help you access your medical records from different healthcare providers.
- Welldoc, which helps you manage diabetes, hypertension, and weight.
- January AI, which gives health recommendations and insights based on your health records and lifestyle factors.
Upcoming apps will connect patients with caregivers and healthcare providers, offer care navigation for people with cancer, and manage health markers like daily activity, sleep, and nutrition.
Managing medical apps with your phone
It’s natural to be wary of giving your personal information to an app or trusting the advice it provides. Here are a few tips that can help you ease into using this technology on your phone.
- Install one app at a time. Doing this can keep you from feeling overwhelmed.
- Pick just a few apps that fit your specific healthcare needs – like giving you the ability to have your medical records on hand or providing recommendations for managing diabetes.
- Make a folder on your home screen and put the apps in there for easy access.
- Use CLEAR or ID.me, digital wallets that allow you to verify your identity once and then sign in to different websites and apps without having to sign in on each one. ID.me is used for numerous government sites, including Social Security and Medicare.
It’s easy to get inundated with the apps and health technology on the market. It’s also difficult to find technology you can feel safe using — and that offers good clinical information to improve your health. CMS is trying to help by curating this group of apps that you can trust when you’re ready to implement technology as part of your healthcare journey.
If you’re concerned that you’ve been a victim of technology fraud through an app in the library, help is just a phone call away. You can report any issues by calling 1-800-MEDICARE or by making a report with the Office of the Inspector General.
