iTriage, a free mobile health app, has been centre of a lot of talk. With over 13-14 million downloads and a 4.5 star rating from over 100 thousand users, the app is clearly doing something right in its mission to provide medical advice to users.
The application looks to act like a kind of doctor in your pocket. If you have an ailment for which you would like further information, you can click on specific parts of the body within the app’s interface, after which the app slowly drills down to the area of the problem step by step. The app explores the causes for your ailment, provides information about diseases and conditions and helps in finding a healthcare provider and suggesting a course of action. The thinking behind the app is to help ease the stress on hospital emergency rooms:
“Forty percent of ER visits are unnecessary, and that’s a little over one quarter of the $750 billion in waste per year. We think we can make a huge dent in that not just by educating people, but also helping them to decide, then helping them connect and take action and go to urgent care when it’s appropriate instead of going to an ER.” iTriage President Jim Greiner
The application gives users access to content from a huge healthcare a medical database, which is reviewed by Harvard Medical School and was developed by two ER doctors. Despite the “doctor-in-your-pocket” angle, the app is not designed to replace proper, personalised consultations with healthcare professionals. Rather, it is there to help people make informed decisions about healthcare options. The iTriage application is available on iPhone, Android, and even on the mobile web.