A 22-year-old Perth medical student has developed a smartphone app to help Australians keep track of their prescriptions, after watching his mother and grandmother struggle to manage multiple medications at home. Rishi Yogesan built MediRemind alongside his father, Yogesan Kanagasingam, and the app has already been downloaded more than 1,000 times in just six weeks since launch.
A Family Problem That Turned Out to Be a National One
The inspiration for MediRemind came directly from Rishi's home life. He noticed his mother, Shama Yogesan, and his grandmother regularly losing track of how many prescription repeats they had left and where their paper scripts were kept.
"They don't know how many repeats are left," Rishi said. "They don't know where their paper scripts are sometimes."
His mother said her frustration eventually became the catalyst for the app. "One day I got so frustrated, I told my son, I wish someone comes up to solve this issue," Shama said.
What began as an attempt to solve a family headache quickly revealed itself to be a far broader problem. "Initially we thought it's maybe our family problem, but we found out it's not the case," Rishi said.
How the MediRemind App Works
MediRemind consolidates scripts, repeats and medication reminders into a single platform. Importantly, patient information is stored securely on the user's own device rather than on an external server, addressing privacy concerns that often accompany health data apps.
The app is designed to make medication management simpler for both patients and pharmacies, streamlining a process that can become increasingly complex as the number of prescribed medications grows.
With mobile apps changing the way Australians manage everyday life, MediRemind represents a growing trend of tech solutions addressing practical health challenges.
Why Medication Management Is a Growing Challenge
The need for such a tool is underscored by a significant public health reality: around one third of Australians aged over 70 are taking five or more medications daily. Managing that volume of prescriptions — across different dosing schedules, repeat limits and pharmacies — presents a genuine challenge for patients and their families.
Shama Yogesan said the app has already made a tangible difference to her daily life. "It's life changing for me and there's so many people like me," she said. "My health is now normal and managing my medication problem has become much easier."
The father-son team built MediRemind from their kitchen table, a grassroots origin that makes its rapid uptake — more than a thousand downloads in under two months — all the more remarkable.
