Analysis

The doctor will text you now

25th November 2015
Joe Bush
0

We’ve all had the phone call… you have a snivel that’s fast turning into the flu, you’ve pulled a muscle playing squash and can hardly move or the kids have come home from school with the dreaded lurgy. You dial the number for your local GP, only to discover that you can’t get an appointment with your registered doctor for another three weeks!

However, it is believed by some that our smartphones could well change the face of healthcare in the form of immediate access to remote doctors for diagnosis and consultation. Smartphone apps are now available where you are able to type in a question and have a real doctor respond in a matter of minutes. Online consultations can be performed via text or video and prescriptions can be sent to your nearest pharmacy.

One such subscription service that already has around 250,000 users in the UK and Ireland is Babylon Health, and founder and CEO Ali Parsa has highlighted the progress made in healthcare technology, to the point where we now live in a world in which people have a device that they carry around that can deliver healthcare to wherever they are. They can make an appointment in seconds, see a doctor in minutes and get an answer straight away – as opposed to the alternative of waiting days if not weeks, for an appointment, and then potentially having to take a half day off work to go the surgery.

A user of the Babylon Health app, which costs £4.99 per monthly subscription, commented: “I am a full-time working mum juggling a busy schedule. My employer offered Babylon as a benefit. Babylon provided a convenient and flexible way for me to consult with a GP about my child without having to take a day off work.”

This type of approach has of course been met with caution and scepticism in some quarters of the healthcare sector with issues such as the lack of access to comprehensive medical histories, unfamiliar GPs and data security breaches being cited as potential down-sides to the technology.

In addition, Babylon Health have themselves cited several more severe medical symptoms where their app should not be used - such as chest pains, breathing difficulties and head or spinal injuries - in which case the patient should see a doctor face-to-face.

However, there is no doubt that mobile phone apps and medical devices have huge potential to support patients and the health professionals who provide their care in the future and in recognition of this, Babylon Health has been nominated for the 2015 City A.M. awards in the category of Innovative Company of the Year. Babylon Health is also partnering with the NHS to offer the service to patients in more remote areas and is also planning to launch in Africa next year.

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