American Pharmaceutical Review
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Way back in 2009, before this pandemic, before murder hornets, before everything else 2020 has thrown at us – Apple introduced its iPhone 3G.
It truly seems like an eon ago, especially since Apple is now selling the iPhone 11, but back then the 3G was a big deal, and Apple put together a very extensive advertising and marketing program to support the 3G.
One of the most popular ads was the famous “There’s an app for that” commercial. Basically, this commercial promoted the fact that the 3G could run any of the numerous apps that were available at the time. From recipes, to directions, to counting calories – “There’s an app for that” was the tagline. The ad and in particular the tagline became so popular that Apple actually trademarked the phrase in 2010. Who knew?
The phrase has also infiltrated our regular conversations – being used as a catch-all whenever someone mentions they have a problem:
Me: I can’t find my socks.
You: There’s an app for that.
As the number of apps has exploded since 2009, we fi nd ourselves downloading, testing out, and keeping the good ones and deleting the bad.
Healthcare and wellness apps abound. From tracking steps and miles, to keeping a log of your important numbers (think glucose, blood pressure, etc.) apps are available for practically anything healthcare related.
And of course, pharmacies offer their own apps. Ostensibly designed so users can keep track of, and reorder prescriptions, they also offer shopping for anything they offer in the store. Come for the prescriptions, stay for the gummy bears.
Anyway, I use an app from one of the major pharmacies. I also subscribe to their text alerts. When a prescription is refilled, I get an alert on my phone, which includes a link. The link opens the app on my phone. From there I can see my prescription, cost, etc.
Now, this year, going into a pharmacy is not on my list of things I want to do. So, using an app for refilling prescriptions and scheduling delivery is great feature.
Or is it?
The definition of the word glitch is: a usually minor malfunction or a minor problem that causes a temporary setback. And that’s exactly what I encountered with this app.
The app says you can have your prescription delivered – but there is no button to do that. Not on the app or on the website.
I searched and searched for that button- to no avail. Finally, I made an old-fashioned phone call to the pharmacy. They were happy to help and got everything straightened out. When I mentioned the problem with the app – they were nonplussed. I guess they were too overworked to care, and frankly, I don’t blame them.
So, perhaps, after we can get out of 2020, they can update their app. It will be time to build a better app for that.