WOONSOCKET, R.I. — CVS/pharmacy has added the Drug Interaction Checker tool to the CVS Mobile application.
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The Drug Interaction Checker’s icon is located on the home screen of the CVS Mobile app. |
The drug chain said Monday that the new feature enables customers to quickly and easily check for potential drug interactions by comparing over-the-counter products with their prescriptions and other OTCs on their smartphones.
Users just enter the name of the product or active ingredients, or they can use their smartphone’s camera to scan the medicine’s UPC bar code, from a selection of thousands of products. The Drug Interaction Checker compares product details against the OTCs or prescription medications entered or imported through the patient’s secure pharmacy history. The tool then identifies possible interactions based on a comprehensive, continually updated database of drug information to alert users of any potential issues.
"Our new Drug Interaction Checker empowers our customers to make important decisions about their health with a convenient tool that determines whether an over-the-counter product may impact the prescriptions they are taking," Brian Tilzer, senior vice president and chief digital officer at CVS/pharmacy, said in a statement. "Our goal at CVS/pharmacy is to continually find new ways of helping people on their path to better health, and this new feature demonstrates how we intend to harness the power of mobile technology as a cutting-edge health resource that addresses real needs of our customers."
CVS said users of the Drug Interaction Checker can import prescriptions from their online MyCVS Pharmacy accounts or manually enter drug information. The tool’s icon is located on the home screen of the CVS Mobile app.
"Now customers will have more information right at their fingertips, so they can make more informed decisions or seek advice from a pharmacist as needed, if the CVS Mobile app alerts them to a potential interaction," Tilzer added.
CVS reported that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost half of Americans take at least one prescription drug per month, and more than 20% take three or more prescriptions.
