09 Jul 2025
Health Health & Fitness

Medical Log App to Track and Export Personal Health Records

Confidence
Engagement
Net use signal
Net buy signal

Idea type: Swamp

The market has seen several mediocre solutions that nobody loves. Unless you can offer something fundamentally different, you’ll likely struggle to stand out or make money.

Should You Build It?

Don't build it.


Your are here

You're entering a crowded space for medical log apps, with 9 similar products already identified. The "Swamp" category isn't the most encouraging, suggesting many existing solutions haven't quite hit the mark. Engagement is low among these similar products, with an average of only 1 comment per product. This implies users aren't highly invested or haven't found compelling reasons to engage with these apps. There's no significant net use or buy signal, meaning, on average, people aren't explicitly expressing a desire to use or buy these existing apps. Given this, it's crucial to understand why current apps aren't resonating with users before investing heavily in development.

Recommendations

  1. First, deeply investigate the failures and shortcomings of existing medical log apps. Don't just assume you can build a better UI; identify the core reasons why users aren't adopting or actively using these tools. Look closely at the 'criticism_summary' of similar products. For example, the Apple Health app is being criticized for lacking features like appointment booking and symptom tracking. Focus on addressing these unmet needs.
  2. If you're set on moving forward, focus on a very specific niche within the broader medical log space. Instead of trying to be everything to everyone, identify a particular patient group (e.g., individuals managing chronic conditions, families with young children, or elderly patients needing medication reminders) with specific needs and tailor your app to them.
  3. Consider providing tools for EXISTING providers instead of creating a standalone app for patients. Explore integration with existing EMR (Electronic Medical Record) systems or practice management software to offer features like automated data entry, streamlined reporting, or enhanced patient communication.
  4. Explore adjacent problems in the healthcare space that may offer more promising opportunities. Perhaps there's a need for better telehealth solutions, remote patient monitoring tools, or AI-powered diagnostic assistants. These areas might offer higher growth potential and less direct competition.
  5. Analyze competing apps like MedBlockx. Users noted that the market is already crowded, suggesting you need a strong differentiation. Consider how you can clearly communicate your app's advantages and unique features to stand out in the crowded medical app space.
  6. Focus on security and privacy features since the idea involves storing personal health records. Ensure compliance with HIPAA and other relevant regulations to build user trust. Clearly articulate your security measures to differentiate your app.
  7. Consider a freemium model, where the basic version is free and users can upgrade to a paid version for additional features or storage. Start with a minimum viable product (MVP) and get early user feedback before investing in more features.

Questions

  1. What specific unmet needs or pain points will your app address that existing medical log apps are failing to solve, and how will you validate these assumptions before building?
  2. How will you acquire users in a crowded market where similar apps have low engagement, and what's your plan to achieve sustainable growth without significant marketing spend?
  3. How will you build trust and ensure data privacy and security, given the sensitive nature of personal health records, and what steps will you take to comply with HIPAA and other relevant regulations?

Your are here

You're entering a crowded space for medical log apps, with 9 similar products already identified. The "Swamp" category isn't the most encouraging, suggesting many existing solutions haven't quite hit the mark. Engagement is low among these similar products, with an average of only 1 comment per product. This implies users aren't highly invested or haven't found compelling reasons to engage with these apps. There's no significant net use or buy signal, meaning, on average, people aren't explicitly expressing a desire to use or buy these existing apps. Given this, it's crucial to understand why current apps aren't resonating with users before investing heavily in development.

Recommendations

  1. First, deeply investigate the failures and shortcomings of existing medical log apps. Don't just assume you can build a better UI; identify the core reasons why users aren't adopting or actively using these tools. Look closely at the 'criticism_summary' of similar products. For example, the Apple Health app is being criticized for lacking features like appointment booking and symptom tracking. Focus on addressing these unmet needs.
  2. If you're set on moving forward, focus on a very specific niche within the broader medical log space. Instead of trying to be everything to everyone, identify a particular patient group (e.g., individuals managing chronic conditions, families with young children, or elderly patients needing medication reminders) with specific needs and tailor your app to them.
  3. Consider providing tools for EXISTING providers instead of creating a standalone app for patients. Explore integration with existing EMR (Electronic Medical Record) systems or practice management software to offer features like automated data entry, streamlined reporting, or enhanced patient communication.
  4. Explore adjacent problems in the healthcare space that may offer more promising opportunities. Perhaps there's a need for better telehealth solutions, remote patient monitoring tools, or AI-powered diagnostic assistants. These areas might offer higher growth potential and less direct competition.
  5. Analyze competing apps like MedBlockx. Users noted that the market is already crowded, suggesting you need a strong differentiation. Consider how you can clearly communicate your app's advantages and unique features to stand out in the crowded medical app space.
  6. Focus on security and privacy features since the idea involves storing personal health records. Ensure compliance with HIPAA and other relevant regulations to build user trust. Clearly articulate your security measures to differentiate your app.
  7. Consider a freemium model, where the basic version is free and users can upgrade to a paid version for additional features or storage. Start with a minimum viable product (MVP) and get early user feedback before investing in more features.

Questions

  1. What specific unmet needs or pain points will your app address that existing medical log apps are failing to solve, and how will you validate these assumptions before building?
  2. How will you acquire users in a crowded market where similar apps have low engagement, and what's your plan to achieve sustainable growth without significant marketing spend?
  3. How will you build trust and ensure data privacy and security, given the sensitive nature of personal health records, and what steps will you take to comply with HIPAA and other relevant regulations?

  • Confidence: High
    • Number of similar products: 9
  • Engagement: Low
    • Average number of comments: 1
  • Net use signal: 21.7%
    • Positive use signal: 21.7%
    • Negative use signal: 0.0%
  • Net buy signal: 0.0%
    • Positive buy signal: 0.0%
    • Negative buy signal: 0.0%

This chart summarizes all the similar products we found for your idea in a single plot.

The x-axis represents the overall feedback each product received. This is calculated from the net use and buy signals that were expressed in the comments. The maximum is +1, which means all comments (across all similar products) were positive, expressed a willingness to use & buy said product. The minimum is -1 and it means the exact opposite.

The y-axis captures the strength of the signal, i.e. how many people commented and how does this rank against other products in this category. The maximum is +1, which means these products were the most liked, upvoted and talked about launches recently. The minimum is 0, meaning zero engagement or feedback was received.

The sizes of the product dots are determined by the relevance to your idea, where 10 is the maximum.

Your idea is the big blueish dot, which should lie somewhere in the polygon defined by these products. It can be off-center because we use custom weighting to summarize these metrics.

Similar products

Relevance

Fasten Health – open-source Personal Health Record – 27,000 providers

Hey HN!About a year and a half ago, I was diagnosed with a chronic condition and I realized that my medical history (and the medical history of my family members) is a lot more complicated than I realized. I need a single, private location to store our medical records, and I just couldn't find any software that worked as I'd like:- self-hosted/offline - this is my medical history, I'm not willing to give it to some random multi-national corporation to data-mine and sell- It should aggregate my data from multiple healthcare providers (insurance companies, hospital networks, clinics, labs) that I've used over my career/lifetime.- automatic - it should pull my EMR (electronic medical record) directly from my insurance provider/clinic/hospital network - I don't want to scan/OCR physical documents (unless I have to)- open source - the code should be available for contributions & auditingSo, I built itFasten Health is an open-source, privacy-first, personal/family electronic medical record aggregator, designed to integrate with 100,000's of insurance companies, healthcare providers and laboratories. It securely connects patient healthcare providers together, creating a personal health record that never leaves the patient's hands without their consent.Fasten Health recently released v1 of our software and our desktop app was finally published in the App Store!Your feedback & support would be incredibly helpful :)

Impressed by progress in the past year


Avatar
4
1
1
4
Relevance

HealthTestLog - Digitize, Analyze, and Share Encrypted Medical Reports

HealthTestLog digitizes medical reports securely. Scan, store, and analyze health data. Share encrypted records via secure links. Features include report digitization, health insights, data export, and strong privacy controls. Simplify your health management.

HealthTestLog is praised for its practicality in tracking health changes over time. Users find the tool useful for managing health reports and congratulate the launch. The idea of digitally scanning and storing medical reports is also positively highlighted as a beneficial feature.


Avatar
6
3
66.7%
3
6
66.7%
Relevance

MedBlockx: Health Record - Your health in your pocket - medication reminders & more

MedBlockx, the all-in-one iOS app for managing your medical history, appointments and keeping track of your health status with retrospective evaluations, prospective reminders and secure data protection.

Users see potential in replacing outdated hospital apps with a modern solution. However, the market is crowded with similar apps, suggesting a need for strong differentiation. Engaging doctors for recommendations could help stand out. One user inquired about MedBlockx's unique features compared to other medical history apps, highlighting the importance of clearly communicating its advantages.

The Apple Health app is criticized for lacking key features like doctor appointment booking and symptom tracking, which limits its utility. Users feel the app needs stronger differentiation from competitors to provide unique value and attract more users.


Avatar
13
3
3
13
Relevance

Healthdex - Upload and manage your medical records in one secure app

Healthdex makes it easy to share your medical records with your medical professionals, caregivers, family, and friends who help take care of you. You can easily send your medical records to them through the app.

Healthdex received positive feedback on its Product Hunt launch. One user believes Healthdex is the best health records system in the Philippines, and another user found the launched product to be helpful.


Avatar
65
2
2
65
Relevance

HealthMemo - Help you, your baby, and your family store medical documents

12 Jul 2024 Medical Productivity

HealthMemo 1.1 is live now! My personal medical record keeper in my pocket with features: - Privacy Protection - Data Security - Rich Usage Scenarios - Ease of Use

App sounds useful for medical papers; asks about offline access.


Avatar
5
1
100.0%
1
5
100.0%
Top