I was compensated to create this post, though all opinions are my own. I have a full affiliate disclosure that you can find here

Being a chronic illness patient is exhausting, right?! Fatigue, pain, symptoms, and specialist after specialist. When taking a shower makes you exhausted, keeping track of what you discussed with your doctor at your last appointment seems nearly impossible to me. When I was asked to review the Abridge app, I was excited to hear that it could help make my doctor’s appointments easier and help me to be my own best advocate for myself!

How Can Abridge Help Me?

The app easily and securely records your health care conversations, so at my latest appointment, I was able to focus 100% of my attention on what my doctor was saying, instead of worrying about taking manual notes. The transcript of our conversation wasn’t perfect, but it was clear enough that I knew which parts were the most important for me to playback! I actually loved that it only highlighted the medical mentions for me, because I much prefer to be able to quickly look at my screen and find the info I need. If it transcribed my entire conversation with my doctor, it would have been pages long and had to navigate (and admittedly, most of it was not important as I tend to joke around a lot!). 

After you’re done recording, their technology highlights the medical terms in your conversations, so you can quickly replay those pieces to find diagnoses, medications, or treatments. I was even able to share the recording with my husband so he was able to understand what my doctor was recommending, despite not being able to attend the actual appointment. 

Understanding your own health care options is the first (and most important step, in my opinion) to advocacy. While my doctors are valuable partners in my care, I know my body the best. And as patients, we have to be our own best advocates, especially if you deal with an unpredictable illness like Multiple Sclerosis.

Is it Safe?

While I am happy to share my experiences online, I don’t have time or energy to worry about private information being shared without my consent. Data on Abridge is secure and encrypted. The use industry-leading best practices to ensure your data is transmitted and stored via secure channels. 

While many states require you to get your doctor’s permission to record your conversation, it was simple for me to ask my doctor and he knows I struggle with brain fog so he thought it was a great idea. 

Why Use Abridge

I had the pleasure of talking to the app’s co-founder, who was inspired by his own family’s experience with a rare disease, as well as his own experience as a cardiologist. He recognized that most medical tools out there are built for doctors, insurance companies, etc., and there’s rarely anything that empowers the patient. And as patients, we deserve better tools too, don’t we?! 

I would like to see Abridge add a function where you can put notes in to remind yourself prior to appointments, but I know they are already working on a lot of updates. They were kind and super open to getting more patient feedback. 

I’m going to use Abridge at all of my appointments now and I would encourage you to try it out too (download it here)! In my experience as a patient and caretaker, more information and knowledge is always more helpful. Plus, it takes a huge burden off patients and their loved ones to be in charge of taking down notes during each appointment.

Have you tried this app or do you have another way of keeping track of ‘all the things’? I’d love to hear your thoughts!