PocketPharmacist: Find Medication Information Quickly and Easily 

As the name implies, Pocket Pharmacist acts as a pharmacist that you have on-hand at all times. When you have questions about medication that you’re taking or prescribing for someone, you can pull out your iPhone and check this application for in-depth details on each drug. The information provided by the app is curated and summarized by a pharmacist, so you receive accurate information.  

Why Pocket Pharmacist Exists 

Keeping track of drug interactions can be difficult when dealing with new conditions, changes in prescriptions, and other situations. You may not have the opportunity to talk directly to a pharmacist, so having this quick reference offers another resource for accessing medicine information. 

Who Pocket Pharmacist is Meant For 

This versatile application offers useful features for patients, medical students, caregivers, nurses, physicians, and other healthcare professionals. 

Benefits of Pocket Pharmacist 

•         Receive unbiased pharmaceutical information. The Pocket Pharmacist developer does not accept sponsorships or advertisements, so they avoid being influenced by drug manufacturers and other entities.
•         Get an easy reference for full FDA prescribing information on your phone. When you’re working with patients, quickly checking dosages, usage, and other information can lead to better patient experiences and outcomes.
•         Avoid drug interactions with a highly accurate checker. It reports overlapping precautions and side effects alongside interactions for a complete picture of the potentialrisk. Some interactions are more severe than others, and you end up better informed on your medication.
•         Track and streamline your complicated medication regimens with the Med Organizer. You can also have the interaction checker go over your list and share your medication information with your medical team and family members.
•         Learn about drugs and medication more efficiently as a medical student with the Quiz function. You can go through multiple-choice questions and use digital flashcards to retain this information. Since Pocket Pharmacist is frequently updated, students will have the most up-to-date information to study.

Drawbacks of Pocket Pharmacist 

•         Pocket Pharmacist is iOS only, limiting the user base that can access this useful application.
•         The application is good at delivering a diverse pharmacy support experience, but it’s not overly focused on any one area. Each audience that it caters to may be looking for an experience more specific to their requirements, rather than one that fits many needs.
•         You pay for this application every month, which may not be appealing to users when there are free alternatives available.

Pocket Pharmacist Pricing 

Pocket Pharmacist offers a free trial so you can explore the application and confirm that it functions the way you expect and it provides value. Once the trial ends, you must pay for Pocket Pharmacist monthly at $0.99 or annually at $9.99. Subscriptions auto-renew. You can cancel and renew as needed if you don’t need to use the application on a routine basis. Once your paid subscription runs out, you can’t access Pocket Pharmacist. 

Customer Reviews for Pocket Pharmacist 

Customer reviews concerning the functionality of Pocket Pharmacist are overwhelmingly positive. The biggest negative remark is that the payment model for this application changed over the past few years. It was originally offered for a one-time payment of $0.99, but it switched to a subscription model to support the ad-free experience and keep the medical information updated. Some customers felt upset that they had to pay monthly for an application they had already paid for. 

Alternatives to Pocket Pharmacist 

Epocrates is an application intended solely for physicians. It has an extensive set of advanced features for this audience, including: 

•         Pharmacology
•         Full prescribing information
•         Dosing recommendations for adults and children
•         Black box warnings
•         Specific concerns for people who are pregnant or nursing
•         Drug interaction checker that supports researching up to 30 drug interactions at a time
•         Full pill identification database
•         Hundreds of helpful tools for medical professionals, including medical equations and calculators
•         Easy access to the drug coverage details for more than 6,600 insurance plans in the United States
•         A custom home screen that’s simple to set up for your daily work duties
•         Access to the Epocrates Plus subscription. For $16.99 per month, alternative medicine monographs, peer-reviewed disease content, ICD-10 codes, labs, and more information are available in the application.

Drugs.com Medication Guide is an Android and iOS application intended for the layperson who wants to know more about their medication. The drug database offers autocomplete suggestions, so you don’t have to remember how to spell the full medication name, and the database is frequently updated. You can track your personal medication records through a user-friendly format, which goes into detail on consumer information for your prescriptions. 

The drug interactions checker covers contraindications, as well as any issues with food allergies, and medical conditions that could result in side effects from taking that medication or combination. 

The application integrates a discount card to help people pay for prescriptions. If you have specific questions that aren’t answered in the content, you can ask questions through the Q&A section and look up existing answers. 

While the Drugs.com application is primarily focused on patients, healthcare professionals may find several tools helpful, such as redoing your drug searches, accessing specialized databases, and getting help spelling drug names. 

The application is free for all users, but you can opt to remove ads for three months for $1.99 or one year for $4.99. Since many people are familiar with the Drugs.com website, they may have an easier time trusting the information from this application. 

Drugs.com Medication Guide has a companion app called Pill Identifier that is iOS only. If you aren’t sure which pill is which in your pill case or organizer, you can use the pill identifier to find out what it is. The basic version costs $0.99 and the premium version is $39.99. 

Pocket Pharmacist is an excellent all-in-one application for medical students, medical professionals, individuals, and caregivers, but you may end up wanting a more specialized experience in the long-term.