Five top-scoring diabetes apps

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What are ORCHA’s Best Diabetes Apps?

According to Diabetes UK, 4.7 million people in the UK have diabetes, a number which has more than doubled in the last 20 years. About 90% of people with diabetes have Type 2, about 8% of people with diabetes have Type 1, and about 2% of people have rarer types of diabetes. Considering that the NHS spends at least £10 billion a year on diabetes, making up 10% of its entire budget, it is becoming increasingly important that patients have access to additional forms of diabetes management care that don’t rely solely on the NHS.

As well as reducing the strain on the NHS, more resources are needed so that people can learn to self-manage their diabetes. On average, diabetes sufferers spend around 3 hours with a healthcare professional every year, meaning that, for the remaining 8,757 hours, they must manage their diabetes themselves. It is here that diabetes apps find their place as diabetes management tools.

 

But what are the best diabetes apps?

With over 300,000 health apps on the market, many of these aimed at people with diabetes, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to know which ones are trustworthy and effective. As the trusted source for health app advice, ORCHA has reviewed 60 diabetes apps so that users and health professionals can easily find the best diabetes app for their or their patient’s health needs.

ORCHA’s App Library cuts through the noise by showing which apps, out of the thousands available, are safe to use. Scored on Clinical Assurance, Data Privacy and User Experience, ORCHA has reviewed diabetes tracker/log apps, diabetes management apps, gestational diabetes apps, and diabetes apps that go alongside medical devices.

 

ORCHA’s Top 5 Diabetes Apps

Diabetes apps can aid condition-management, give patients an informed understanding of diabetes, and, thus, provide additional support to professional medical advice and treatment. Below, we look at 5 of the top apps for diabetes management, based on our ORCHA Review:

  • RetinaRisk – The Risk Diabetic Retinopathy Calculator (DRC) is designed for people with diabetes, and calculates patients’ percentage risk of developing sight-threatening retinopathy over time. These risk estimates are based on each individual’s clinical data. With an ORCHA Score of 88% on both iOS and Android, RetinaRisk is the highest scoring app designed specifically for individuals with diabetes.
  • mySugr – The mySugr App is a free diabetes logbook, allowing users to keep their diabetes data under control. As a diabetes journal app, it includes a blood sugar tracker, carb logger, bolus calculator (EU only) and an estimated HbA1c for each individual. The app achieved an ORCHA Score of 87% on Android and 85% on iOS.
  • Dario Diabetes Management – Dario Diabetes Management is a diabetes monitor app that allows people with diabetes to keep a record of their diabetes history, from a logbook and timeline of blood glucose measurements, to the ability to share results and statistics with chosen family members or healthcare team. Users can also enable Emergency Hypo Alerts with GPS Locator, which is a useful safety feature. The app can connect to Dario’s Blood Glucose Monitoring System, a smart pocket-sized device that automatically records blood glucose measurements and provides analysis. Dario Diabetes Management achieved an ORCHA Score of 84% on iOS and 80% on Android.
  • GDm-Health – GDm-Health is gestational diabetes app for women with or at risk of gestational diabetes, as well as those who are pregnant with pre-existing diabetes. Users can upload and track blood glucose readings. These readings can be viewed as a list, in diary-view, in a graph, and can be filtered to show trends. Users can also provide additional notes to their care team, and receive care guidance from their care professional direct to the app. The app’s ORCHA Score for iOS is 83%.
  • Dip.io – To be used with the designated Dip.io kit, Dip.io turns your smartphone into a urine dipstick analyser. The Dip.io app and kit can aid in the diagnosis and monitoring of metabolic or systemic diseases, and can thus be used as a diabetes monitor app, as well as for the general evaluation of health. Dip.io achieved an ORCHA Score of 76% on iOS.

Take a look at how we are working with West Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group to integrate health apps into their Healthier You: NHS Diabetes Prevention Programme (NHS DPP) in order to help prevent diabetes.

Due to our continual re-review process, all app scores are subject to change. As such, we’d always encourage you to view our app reviews on our App Library, as this reflects Live data and app updates which are continuously changing. Our re-review process ensures that the most up-to-date information for the latest version of an app can be accessed via our App Library.

About ORCHA

Founded by NHS clinicians, ORCHA is the world’s leading digital health evaluation and distribution organisation. We provide services to national health bodies across three continents, including the NHS in 50% of UK regions, delivering national accreditation frameworks, bespoke Digital Health Libraries, and professional recommendation tools, specific to the needs of our clients. ORCHA’s unique Review Engine assesses digital health solutions against more than 300 measures across Clinical/Professional Assurance, Data & Privacy, and Usability & Accessibility, plus additional criteria depending on needs.

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