App lets you submit device reports to FDA

The MedWatcher mobile app allows physicians and other users to submit voluntary reports of serious medical device problems to the Food and Drug Administration using a smartphone or tablet. Although not intended to fulfill mandatory reporting requirements, the app is designed to improve patient safety more quickly by speeding the reporting process compared with traditional reporting done via mail, telephone, or Web.

Users can:

• report serious adverse events, therapeutic failures, use errors, and product quality issues;

• upload photos to help identify visible problems; and

• receive safety alerts, safety communications, recall information, and more.

A built-in firewall means that information is not vulnerable after it has been received, according to the agency. The app does not store personal information from a user’s mobile device, nor does it store reports once they are submitted.

MedWatcher is available for download in the iTunes and Google Play stores.

HealthMap; (800)463-6332; www.medwatcher.org