Josh Hendrickson
“What did the doctor suggest?” “I don’t really remember.” That’s a conversation all too familiar in families with aging relatives, or where one parent could make it to the doctor’s office while the other had to work. Medcorder (for iOS, iPadOS, and Android) aims to solve that by recording consultations so you can hear them later.
And it’s not just recording and playback that you get out of Medcorder; the app will transcribe conversations too. You can also make notes, take photos in the app, and even record videos (so you don’t forget symptoms, for instance). You can invite family members to access the information as well, which can be helpful when multiple people need to be aware of someone’s health situation.
Naturally, to record a conversation with a doctor, you’ll need to obtain their permission. But from there, the process is fairly straight forward. Playback of those discussions can be essential if you’re caring for someone with memory problems, or you want to be sure you didn’t miss important information.
You may even find the app useful for yourself, considering most people forget a majority of what they heard in a conversation with a day or so.
Right now, the app is free, doesn’t contain any advertisements, and doesn’t offer any in-app purchases. But it’s always a good idea to read a company’s privacy policy before entrusting it with your medical data.
The company behind Medcorder tells us it plans to experiment with “…premium in-app purchases (think human-in-the-loop transcription, meal delivery, etc), and in longer-term, economic alignment with providers, particularly regarding malpractice, and in better outcomes for patients to align with fee-for-service providers.”
If you’ve been looking for a better way to keep track of doctor’s consultations, Medcorder might be just the solution you need.
