I never knew life as a hospitalist could be so easy. I am a huge fan of using technology to make our lives as doctors better and more efficient for ourselves and our patients. The infamous $4 Walmart med list started it all.
Shortly after the $4 Walmart drug list, we had every major national pharmacy and local grocery store offering up their own $4 list of medications. Yet, for what ever reason, the $4 Walmart list is the only one I ever see jammed in the patient's chart for me to try and accommodate the poor and own on their luck patients with barely $4 to their name.
I'm a big fan of the $4 list. But, I've learned a few quirky clinical details over the years. For example, the cost of Duoneb (combination albuterol + atrovent). If you order the albuterol separately and the atrovent separately, both from the $4 list, your cost will be 10x less than if you order the premixed Duoneb solution at Walmart.
How can you get the $4 Walmart list with you at all times? Having the Walmart $4 med list readily available is as easy as downloading the Walmart iPhone app. The $4 med list data base is just a click away from the home screen. One observation. I did find the list may not be exactly up to date as more and more medications go generic. For example, Norvasc is now a $4 drug, it's not yet on their iPhone $4 medication app list.
I also discovered that the app allows me to self medicate my hypothyroidism and have my levothyroxin delivered to my home with just a couple clicks in the iPhone app. Just sign up for walmartDOTcom and then sign up for their pharmacy portion and your app is good to go. While you can't order a new prescription (as a physician), you can get refills mailed to your home with just the click of a button.
As a doctor, you can save your patients some money and yourself some time and get your own medication refills right from your phone. No more wondering if the drug is on the $4 Walmart drug list or not. This is yet another way to increase hospitalist efficiency. Oh yeah. And the app is free.
Make sure you also check out other iPhone apps for doctors.
