We don't often write about consumer-facing products, but we thought this one was significant, because it comes to us from Charlie Koo, founder and original CEO of electronic medical records vendor iMedica, now called Aprima Medical Software. Koo is co-founder of Evincii, a three-year-old "expert guided search" firm in Mountain View, Calif., that for a short time provided kiosks in drug stores and supermarkets to help consumers find appropriate over-the-counter medications for their particular symptoms.
Today, Evincii is scrapping the hardware-intensive kiosk model and moving its database of more than 5,000 OTC products to a mobile platform that the company describes as a "pharmacist in your pocket." The new product, called Pickka Med, is available for the iPhone in the Apple App Store, or on the web for other smartphones. A Google Android app is in the works, Koo says, and the company is planning other health and wellness apps.
Pickka Med walks users through a list of symptoms and checks for potential allergic or drug-drug interactions, displaying photos and full "drug facts" labels, based on the product lists of specific chains, including Walgreens, Wal-Mart, Kroger and Safeway. The rationale behind the product is that consumers need a way of sorting through the myriad product offerings at their local drug stores, particularly while sick. "Consumers won't spend 20 to 30 minutes doing research like they would on a PC," Koo tells FierceMobileHealthcare.
For more information:
- read this Evincii press release
- watch this video from Evincii