Microsoft has launched a mobile app that it says will improve patient adherence and help them recognise adverse events.

The software giant says that other features of its new MedicineCabinet app will allow healthcare providers to reduce duplicate or unnecessary medicines and help them spot if their patients have been prescribed inappropriate drugs.

The free Windows 8 app was developed with IT company NextGen Healthcare and allows users to create, store, track and share personal medication records, with the aim of driving patient engagement.

Dennis Schmuland, chief health strategy officer of US Health & Life Sciences at Microsoft, said: "Windows 8 is providing new ways for healthcare IT developers like NextGen to enable consumers to use one device to take charge of their own healthcare and well-being. With the MedicineCabinet app, patients can easily and seamlessly tap, type, or swipe to share and stay connected.”

Patients can create and update a list of medications, including dosing and schedule information, and receive notifications for each medication to remind them to take their medicines as prescribed.

"Mobile patient engagement is at the forefront of today's changing healthcare environment providing consumer technology that encourages members to control and lead healthier lifestyles is a key factor in improving outcomes," explained Ike Ellison executive vice president of business development for NextGen Healthcare.

"By leveraging the power and flexibility of the Microsoft Windows 8 platform, we can now provide our customers and patients with an easy online tool that allows them to actively engage in their well-being, ultimately enhancing care delivery and results."

Although uptake is likely to be limited - smartphones running Microsoft's Windows 8 platform (like the Nokia Lumia pictured above) account for just over 4 per cent of the US market, Microsoft said the application is “setting the stage for future consumer-based healthcare IT solutions, anywhere and anytime across any mobile network”.

It also builds on Microsoft's burgeoning interest in healthcare, where in the last year the firm has teamed up with GE Healthcare to work on a patient management platform dubbed a 'Windows for healthcare' and collaborated with a London hospital to put the world's first mental health electronic patient record online.

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