healow Reviews

by TheWallaby

Wasted 2 hours trying to set up healow the night before an appointment. Issue is I already had this app installed in prep for a different appointment. Process went fairly smoothly to log into the portal the first time but that appointment is days away. I have an appointment tomorrow with another provider who unfortunately also requires this app. App is already installed and NOTHING works to add a new account from healow (using iPhone 11)...finds provider but subsequent prompts just will not accept input. Bailed out and logged in from my newer laptop only to watch it reject every browser I tried (Chrome, IE, Edge) as “unsupported.” Ended up giving up and logging on using the browser app from my iPhone, bypasses healow entirely. At least the test didn’t reject the browser, but it’s really not optimized for the main bike screen. Due to COVID risk,I need these virtual visits. Guess if it doesn’t work tomorrow with my crazy workaround I’ll cancel my appointment and blame it on eClinicalWorks. I know I won’t be the first to do so. As an IT professional in healthcare, I hate seeing buggy apps like these because I know it will be a barrier to healthcare for some non technical or older people. Sad.

Update: assuming eCW took the backend down last evening with NO alert that maintenance was occurring. Monday am functions like linking an account mysteriously work. Wow. What a waste of an evening.

by BallisticsGirl

I use healow for my neurologist. Out of all the specialist I see, it’s one of the two most important! I haven’t been able to get an email response from my doctor’s office since 2017 via healow !
What you see on healow :
- Some of your records.
-you cannot open your lab results, or anything like that though.
- Maybe half of your medications that you take from other doctors.
- Appointments (this feature I’ve never had trouble with).
- As I mentioned that it’s been two years since I’ve received an email from my doctors office via healow or even to my personal email... I can’t tell if the office is even getting the emails from the program, or if the new MAs are even aware of the program! (This makes me miss the people that left office.) Or to be honest if my doctor is even aware of the program!
My pharmacy gets notes from my doctor to give to me about seeing him immediately, yet his front desk balks at that notion, so when I try to contact my doctor via healow to let him know... there’s always radio silence.

Then to make things worse, you cannot reply to an email thread. It has to be a new email. Therefore, no one can keep track of vital information such as seizures or anything of the like!

I wish my office would switch to a more efficient program, or that this app would fix their glitches for the sake of doctors and patients alike.

by PJJJK In MA

My health care provider swapped from Follow My Health to this app. Prior to the change I was not too fond of Follow My Health. Since the transition I can honestly say that in my personal experience Follow My Health is a Rock Star when compared to this app. I can only assume the “low” in this app stands for low bidder.
I initially gave up after multiple attempts to set up a Healo account to access my personal medical records. Recently (many months later) I made another attempt which proved just as frustrating and unsuccessful. Eventually support was received from my Medical Providers staff. this app support is in my experience non-existent.
As to the this app app’s content and ease of use. My experience thus far warrants Zero Stars ! I suspect this app is in the profit business and not the medical records business. This patient’s experience allows this app’s site was definitely not created from a patient’s perspective or needs. Their site does not even recognize my Primary Care Provider or The Medical Practice they service after requesting just that info !
With no intention to create a negative this has thus far been my personal experience. Hopefully one that this app will consider to improve their service. If and when they were to make improvements I will post a retraction with a better score. Till then
I hope your experience is better than mine.

by Real-Pro

Like so many things in the American health care system, healow is a sprawling poorly organized mess, needlessly difficult to navigate and ultimately-give-up frustrating. Your incoming messages are on the landing page but how do you get to the thread of received AND sent? Not from there! And not by clicking on Messages either. No, you have to stumble on My Records and discover them buried there for some reason. Want to renew a prescription? You can do it if you know the secret (as in completely unlabeled) button 5 clicks deep from the main menu. Need to tell healow which pharmacy to use? Hope it’s not CVS because you will have to manually search through the list of EVERY CVS in the US, randomly listed, screen by screen, until you find your needle in the haystack. And don’t bother seeking advice on how to do this more efficiently: searching Help for the word “pharmacy” yields exactly zero results. Why would anyone make these boneheaded basic usability decisions? healow is like punishment for actually trying to perform basic healthcare functions online, as if your provider were yelling at you, “just pick up the phone, for God’s sake!”

by Flowerlily1

healow is extremely frustrating. I have not been able to log in since December. My Doctor’s office has reset it several times to no avail. I keep trying to retrieve/ reset my user name/password only to be told I am not registered. I have received ONE email from support and even though I explained the above and requested a phone call more than a week ago, nobody has replied. Right now my opinion of healow is that plus garbage and customer service none existent.

Follow up: today I received an email notifying me that they are considering my case closed. Has anyone bothered to contact
Me by phone (as I requested) or even by email? NO! and they are closing my case??? Unfortunately I can’t give them any lower than a one star. This rating does not necessarily speak for healow . For all I know it’s a great app BUT I have not been able to use it so I can’t say. My issue is mainly with customer service.
I wonder, do they just have bad service? Incompetent reps? Or are they just so inundated with complaints that they have missed my request? In any case, healow is useless to me as it stands.

by Mattl121212

Really think healow needs to interface with Apple Health. The nature of healow is a digital link to one’s medical providers. Why not connect with iOS’s central repository of health information? No better way to share health data measured outside the office with one’s doctor, and to push vitals from official medical appointments / tests back to Apple Health. IMO this needs to be integrated to be a great iOS app.

Less critical, but I would also challenge the dev team to find creative ways to encourage medical offices to use the full features of the this app system; mainly the entering of vitals and test results into the system. My PC doctors office seems to only use this app for appointments as of now, and I have a feeling others are doing the same. Suggestion above of sharing data with med office from Apple Health may encourage them to do the same on their end.

by Zvi Aranoff

I have healow on my phone because it’s used by my daughter’s pediatricians office. In theory, I could see on it appointments, medical information, communicate with the pediatrician, etc. In reality, however, I find healow to be completely useless. Either the problem is with healow itself, or with how it’s linked to my doctor’s website. Either way, messages don’t open up, I don’t see appointments, I can get records, etc. Basically, it doesn’t do anything it purports to do. For example, I can see on healow that my doctor replied to me, but the messages don’t open up. Or they take so long to open, that I get frustrated and just log on directly to my doctor’s website and read it there. As a result, I don’t actually use healow. I check it once in a while, to see if anything changed after an update, but I end up resorting directly to the doctor’s website.

by Zumba*chic

It’s very simple really. Apps have no place in medicine. This is our health we are talking about for which we must rely on yet another device. If something is done such as bloodwork or other tests we should receive a call. My glucose was out of range and rather than call me I had to download this silly app and Google what this might mean. I was told it wasn’t alarming because I had not fasted. I wanted to say I have not once in my life been out of range and had only ever once had a fasting glucose test. This is a huge fail on the part of healthcare. Impersonal and difficult for older generations. They will miss things. They will confuse people. Dr.’s hate it when the general public googles diagnosis and possible health concern scenarios yet they continue to alienate patients. This is just a new way to hold us at arms length. Few people know how to read cbc/chem analysis values and an entire generation struggles with the tech. We don’t need this. We need healthcare workers to do what they do best and communicate with us. Big thumbs down

by MidCityJB

Dealing with medical appointments and test results can be stressful. The this app app test results section looks like someone typed it on an old-school keyboard. Unless you are very familiar with medical terms, it is not intuitive. Other major providers in my city use the MyChart app where in contrast the user interface is a breeze to navigate and visually appealing test results which makes it easy to understand your results. i.e. easy to understand if there is reason to be concerned. The this app app is slow to respond whether you are on Wi-Fi or the network. When you get notifications via email, the information isn’t in the message on healow . It often says “oops”. Sad that a wealthy institution like Tulane University in New Orleans would use such a poor application. When I expressed my frustration with navigation within healow , staff at the clinic laughed and said “no one uses that app, just email us.”

by Labishop123

I rely on voiceover, a screen reader on Apple iPhones to use my phone and apps that I download onto it. Furthermore, I rely on my doctors health applications so that I can independently review my health information and make informed decisions in my healthcare. With healow, I am having problems accessing my Health information, healow refreshes while I am trying to navigate using voice over gestures, and I cannot utilize the messaging feature. In many situations, it has taken me over 30 or 45 minutes to read important information such as my lab results and vitals. It should normally take about 10 or so minutes to do this. I respectfully ask that you make the changes necessary for this application to be compatible with voiceover, as this electronic application is one of the only ways that blind people can independently access their health records.
I thank you for your time and consideration reading this review.

by Pennybink

Can login but initially it was not being able to make an appointment and view records. Didn’t try sending message via healow as I had no reason to do so. Eventually was able to make an appointment. But still trouble login to view records pops up. Deleting app and all you should do with an app not responding as it should has not helped. Update: been reading other reviews. I had a drive through Covid test and because of that, I was in the medical clinics system with this app being available that I didn’t know at the time. Later after seeing that place used this app, I was able to use my phone number with some information to get in via a web browser on my computer. Can’t recall if I input a password in account there, suspect I did. But do know I did not know my user name from the browser computer version. So healow . Frustrating to get in. Think I clicked forgot password but do know that I was allowed to use my phone to login and from there saw my user name. No idea if others use FirstnameLastnameBirthyear for user name. I wish I could recall when the password was made, likely it was browser version. Capital first letter of first name and Capital first letter of last name then 19- - birth year and no spaces. This worked for my husband too.

by Garbagesquid

I like being able to connect to my doctor without needing to cal and monitor my lab results and medications on here but healow itself is extremely buggy. Right now I can’t even log in using my pin, it’ll take me to the Home Screen and then immediately back to the pin Lock Screen. After entering my pin again, it’ll tell me an error has occurred.

Not only that but messages never load properly, and you cant reply outright to any messages, you have to go in and create a brand new message to send out. The hit points of each button aren’t properly placed so you have to make sure you hit dead center (sometimes not even dead center) in order to click on certain names or access files. This is lack of basic design knowledge.

Overall the functionality and the UI design of healow fails in a lot of ways and I feel the only reason why healow even still exists is because it’s a necessity for patients like me to use. That’s not a good business practice at all. You’re doing less than the bare minimum of whats required to have a functional app. Whatever bugs you may have fixed generally end up causing more problems.

Please hire a team that knows how to integrate functionality into design.

by StealthyKhajiit

I rely on healow to communicate with my doctors quick and effectively and it’s really nice, although sometimes I won’t be able to read emails from my doctor, as it cuts them off and the message won’t expand. When that happens I have to try to copy it and paste it in my notes app to read it.
Also, when you try to compose a message and you back out of it, it completely deletes everything and you have to start over. A drafts option would be nice. I do really think that healow could become better with some work and it has potential, but for now I’ll deal with the bugs and irritable occurrences since I need healow lol

by MMMM1011

I do like healow ,but there are improvement that need to be made. For example one of the my most used feature is the messaging. Most of the time it’s easier than making a phone call however I can’t see the message until 2 hours after it was sent even if I check healow constantly. If my doctor sent me a message at 3 o’clock I won’t be in my inbox until 5 which is a frustrating inconvenience. It would also be helpful if I could get a notification when I get a message as well. The telahealth visit through healow is hit or miss and my doctor and I often have to do it another way. If the developers take one thing from this review to fix please fix the messaging lag.

by Teeblackley

Though I installed healow a couple years ago, I haven’t needed to really use it until recently. How do I delete or even archive “we miss you” or “happy holidays” messages? Messages need the option to maintain their thread like in every other messaging app.

I like having a history of my lab and test results and have been able to rely on this feature and is what has kept me using it.

One of my main concerns is readability. The fonts are small, thin and lightweight which makes them difficult to read. I could rely more on the icons (appointments, records, etc) on the main screen if they’re easier to see (small, faint, and detailed). Ironically they are easier to see on the Help screen! The readability issue applies to every screen.

Sadly, I think healow must be one of the lower priced among the options for medical professionals. The version history reflects a lot of bug response, but the last enhancement was 8 months ago and the last update 2 years ago.

The in-app “report a problem” is non-functioning. I question whether the development team even follows reviews/suggestions for improvement or actively works to improve healow. It works, but comes in juuuust under the wire.

by Aprilpatt

healow has a lot of excellent features, and I especially appreciate the efficiency of communication it allows between me and my children’s pediatrician. I have been using healow for several years now, and the main thing I‘d ask you to improve is the messaging. Parents/patients need the ability to reply, and to also see the original sent message. It’s really frustrating to have to completely start over a message each time a response is needed, and to not even be able to refer back to the original/other follow-up messages. ... Other than that, healow ’s features are really great. Love the access to all records, lab reports, health logs, visit summaries, etc. UX is intuitive and simple.

by GP-1970

healow is a well done application that provides good medical record keeping and communication between patient and doctors.

The one issue that is a problem for this application is the messaging. When constructing a message addressed to a doctor, many times an error appears when attempting to send a message, “only valid characters are allowed (A-Z, a-z, 0-9), including all special characters“. Yet the message does not include any invalid characters or even special characters beyond “)” and “(“ according to the error message.

To work around this error, I have to construct my message in the IOS “note” app and then copy/paste the message to the this app app. This is very inconvenient. But I still use this application to communicate with my doctors.

by LoganRexLoveless

I’ve seen my doctor going on over 10 year.
The problems I have were so huge that it would overwhelm most doctors, not this doctor. He saved my life and I’ll always be happy and respect him, not only him as as a person, but I’ll always trust and respect his treatment and medication plans. Not only has the treatment he has given me works l, but I’m no longer the sick and dying person that I was going to be. healow shows all the meds I’m on, it shows so many things that makes me feel like my doctor is always an app away. So thank you, this app, for letting me write this to show just a little of how I feel about my doctor and healow.

Thanks Again,
Steven S.

by SurvivorKym

I for one like the added measures. If you’ve ever had your identity stolen and your medical information and insurance used and then have to fight for years to clean it up you should be happy that they’re taking these extra subs to protect you so one extra strap may be frustrating but in the long run it could be saving you 1 million other stops. Love the doctors love healow and the security. With having stage four bone cancer that is now going to the brain barrier my left orbital socket and plate the extra measures are good for me and I take them every time because I am not having my identity insurance and all of that stolen again so I praise healow , five stars I’d give it 10 if I could

by 27thLetter

After the worst transition from a great physician for over 2 years , to what I would say was beyond INSULTING new estab appt w/a PA yesterday, that was time wasted. The PA 1st stating a well known ADD med “didn’t exist,”then she “can’t find my history w/ this rx that I’ve been on for 1.5yrs...ergo, not going to refill or even reduce milligram, if THAT were the true reason she denied to write for 1 refill of an rx taken daily. She refused an antibiotic for severe sinus infection, stating “insurance won’t cover “, yet I have filled it in past w/out a problem? I left after 2 hours, w/ no progress & no refills. An antidepressant & ADD med taken daily that I’ll be out of next week, leaving me lost.I changed immediately to a Dr linked with app, if they care for patients as well as app assists, I will rest easy. It seems they do, we shall see. I have a great feeling about the Drs I will be linked to. Thank you for a great app.

by The Mrs. Suttle

For me the biggest and most frustrating issue in healow is it’s messaging feature. Besides the fact that you cannot use simple punctuation, like apostrophes, you also cannot reply to your doctors messages. You have to start a whole new message, there is no threading of conversation ability. With a special needs child we sometimes need to go back and forth about things. This helps avoid bringing him into the office where there are sick kids that could pass him germs. A simple cold has almost cost him his life in the past, as he cannot manage the mucus/congestion that comes with one.
Seeing records is difficult at best. Tests results come in, eventually. But not always in a timely manner.
Good luck with healow ! I hope they make it better as it COULD be an invaluable resource. As of now, it’s just a pain.

by SmilingEyes222

When I’m writing messages back and forth to my doctor over a period of a couple days, it would be nice if the notification feature actually worked. When new messages from my doctor come in, I am not notified in any way unless healow is actually open on my phone and I am looking at it. If I am just using my phone as normal, I do not get any badge, banner, or sound notifications indicating that I have a new message waiting in healow . So really how is that helpful to those of us who use healow regularly with our doctors’ offices? It is really a waste of time to have to keep re-opening healow to check for messages from my doctor (which load very slowly) when I should just be able to receive those push notifications like any other app that I use on a regular basis. Please improve this!

by 7arheel88

healow is a waste of time and effort. I can access my information by logging directly into the this app website, but healow has no data. I can log into healow , but there is nothing there... no appointments, no lab results, no messages, nothing. I can see all of this information on the web so I know it should be there. Support has been unhelpful. They send emails apologizing and asking me for details about my problem. I tell them the problem over and over and over again. Their only answer is to uninstall and reinstall, which I have done 3 times. Still, the same problem of no data in healow . Last email, they want me to ask my doctor’s office to open a case with them. What? Are you kidding me? If you can’t solve this problem with one support ticket, how does a second support ticket solve anything. Don’t waste your time. healow does not work

by Patently Absurd App

I spent an hour trying to add a new practice - I could find it but there was no option to add it. Not intuitive and many options missing. When I follow the link in my email, shouldn’t it take me to the practice? Do I need a separate account, login and password for each practice? I have an account on this app, but when I enter my current login and password it says it can’t find it. So there should be an option to creat an account in that case, correct? I’m given no options, just that this app can’t find it. Your graphics are pretty, but common sense options are missing. No link to a help webpage? No way to describe your problem on the help form? And that font size for 25 year olds is ridiculous. 25 year olds are rarely checking their health info. Where is the geriatric font?

by Prcrlc

I like the program but it's only as good as its implementation by the medical practice. They determine what gets posted and the amount of detail.

I'm using different apps for different hospitals and doctors. It's frustrating that I can't share information between them. I often find that specialists forget to send results to my primary care doctor.

I'm not crazy about how email is implemented. I'd like to be able to send a message to my MDs assistant without having to type in a long subject line to made sure it's routed to the right person. I'd also like folders for messages.

by Deafie_b

I like having this option to tell my doctor something that is on my mind that I might forget by the time I go for my appointment.
Sometimes it ends up looking like a chapter of a book, but it saves him time when I am there, bc he knows already and is prepared to take care of the problem. If I had not sent a message, I would be in the exam room longer, taking up some time that should be for another patient.
I did have a problem with not being able to send bc of commas, etc. after telling the receptionist at the office she gave me a phone number and I called, got it taken care of and now have no problem.

by Aflette

I love this app, I really do. It's a great app, but my only complaint is that when you're sending a message to your doctor/nurse or whoever, it doesn't allow you to use apostrophes. It says "special characters like ' are not allowed." Is there any way to fix this?? Because I type contractions more often than not without thinking and autocorrect fixes it too if you don't put it in, and separating out all the words or taking the apostrophes out is really annoying and takes more time than necessary. I know this is a minor thing but it's SUPER annoying.

But regardless of that it's still a great app that I would recommend to others.

by Supernatural Witch

I’ve only used this for about 3 mths. I have a TON of scripts due to nerve damage, high blood pressure and now liver issues because of the long term medications that I need. I never remember when I’ve made my next app & I always lose the cards. This has everything in one place. Finally!!! Plus my doctor’s office is able to answer day to day questions, refill non-narcotic medication and I am able to find out about past visits all together. I have a lot of health issues so I find this VERY helpful. If you are the same or have an elderly parent/family member this will make life so easy. Only 4 ⭐️ because I haven’t figured it all out.

by Tink 1966

I was in need of a new Doctor ASAP and found this group of doctors. I had such nerves about having to find a new family doctor. I came across the
Houston Primary Care group and was extremely pleased with the staff in Byron.
I made an appointment and was seen that next day. I am so pleased with the staff that I’ve worked with. I was afraid to make the switch, but I am extremely impressed with Dr. Brown and his staff. I was made to feel right at home, like I had been with them for years. From the front desk to Henry in the back office.
I would recommend this group and
Dr. John Brown to anyone who is looking to have a true Family Practice.

by KS Flatlander

I like having all my lab values available so I can just hand my phone to a new doctor to view any needed lab data directly. Text messaging directly with doctor’s nurse has given me fast direct access you would never match with phone calls. Appointments are easily verified by dates & times if you forget. In addition, appointment reminders can be sent to you as well. Medication records are continuously available for your convenience and easy to update by you and your physician. This is a concise, easy to use medical program everyone will appreciate.

by Nicknamedddddddddd

I feel bad for the person who can’t get it to work. Maybe it has something to do with area of the country???
Anyway, it works for me.
I have used many features. I can request an appointment or prescription refill. I can review my lab results. I can see upcoming appointments. That’s about all I need to do.

I have not needed to attach a file to send to my dr, so I can’t help the frustrated person with that. Hopefully, healow designers will correct that unfortunate dilemma, because sending info documents to doctor is a necessary and usual task.