ER PHYSICIANS CREATE IPHONE APP THAT EMPOWERS PATIENTS...

RobBrady

2008 was the birth of mainstream LBS thanks in large part to the built in GPS functionality in the iPhone and the opening of the iPhone development platform to creative application developers. Today the Apple App Store is teeming with applications that integrate LBS as the public demonstrates a huge appetite for this type of functionality. Location-awareness will continue to grow at a rapid pace and as the technology continues to evolve, we will see it leveraged in ways that reach out well beyond many of the simple first generation friend-finding and social networking applications so popular today.

An application that was introduced this morning represents this next stage in the evolution of LBS applications on the iPhone and its called iTriage. Consumers use iTriage to make better healthcare decisions through access to relevant medical information and local healthcare facilities. Users access a library of medical symptoms, diseases, and procedures to immediately see initial diagnostic options and get recommendations on the appropriate level of service required. iTriage integrates these results with LBS technology to provide users with specific information on the most relevant nearby treatment facilities.

So if you are traveling anywhere in the US and come down with some strange rash, you can look up the symptoms and possible diagnoses – rule out certain diseases and then the application tells you the right course of action – go to an ER immediately vs. go to urgent care or call your physician. Based on your location, iTriage then provides you with a list of appropriate facilities, including pharmacies in case you need to get a prescription filled. Unlike using a more traditional search engine, iTriage provides you with local hospitals, ERs, urgent care facilities and pharmacies and doesn’t include extraneous results. Obviously, this also works if you are in your own backyard. It is essentially a doctor in your pocket.

Two emergency room physicians created the application because of their firsthand experiences with how a lack of adequate medical information has greatly challenged the medical decision-making process for healthcare consumers. If you are interested in learning more, please let me know.

The press release announcing iTriage follows.

ER PHYSICIANS CREATE IPHONE APP THAT EMPOWERS PATIENTS TO MAKE BETTER HEALTHCARE DECISIONS

iTriage App Provides Actionable Healthcare Information, Offers Consumers “Healthcare in your Hand”

Englewood, CO – March 10, 2009 – Healthagen™, a developer of healthcare information software, today announced the launch of iTriage™ for the iPhone, a smartphone application that empowers consumers to make better healthcare decisions through access to relevant medical information, transparency around quality, and information and access to local healthcare facilities. iTriage helps consumers evaluate their symptoms, lists potential diagnoses and provides locations for treatment.

Consumers can access iTriage’s expansive library of medical symptoms, diseases, and procedures to immediately see initial diagnostic options and get recommendations on the appropriate level of service required. iTriage integrates these results with geolocation technology to provide users with specific information on the most relevant nearby treatment facilities.

Users tap into a national directory of emergency departments, urgent care facilities, retail clinics, and pharmacies through iTriage’s proprietary healthcare-focused search engine. In addition to location-specific data for mapping purposes, consumers can get detailed information on these facilities including: enhanced descriptions of capabilities and areas of specialization, links to appropriate web sites, hours of operation and contact information. Quality reports from HealthGrades on hospitals and physicians can be downloaded and emailed directly to users’ iPhones.

Healthagen founders and emergency medicine physicians Peter Hudson, M.D. and Wayne Guerra , M.D. created iTriage to provide consumers with actionable healthcare information, something which has been a primary pain point for healthcare consumers for decades.

“As practicing doctors who have cared for more than 50,000 patients over the years, we’ve seen firsthand how a lack of adequate medical information has greatly challenged the medical decision-making process for healthcare consumers,” said Dr. Hudson, co-founder and CEO of Healthagen. “With iTriage, our goal is to bring healthcare information, transparency and access directly to the individual consumer.”

Partnerships with leading healthcare information, service and technology companies have been established to offer a range of service offerings unlike any mobile product available. These include leading healthcare companies like HealthGrades, TelaDoc Medical Services, and Coalition America, and will provide iTriage users with everything from quality and safety ratings and patient recommendations to 24x7 phone consultations with board certified physicians to assistance negotiating medical bills.

Beyond providing a valuable resource to the healthcare consumer, iTriage opens up a new medium for healthcare providers to interface with potential patients and customers. Through the iTriage application, healthcare providers have a direct link to consumers and are provided a new avenue with which to differentiate from local competitors and market their specific areas of specialty and treatment expertise.

iTriage is currently available in the Apple App Store for $0.99.

About Healthagen
Healthagen is a developer of healthcare information software that empowers patients to make better decisions and gives healthcare treatment facilities improved access to additional patients. iTriage, the first application available from Healthagen, helps consumers evaluate their symptoms, lists potential diagnoses and provides access to appropriate locations for treatment. The proprietary healthcare search engine that is integrated into iTriage is far superior to any conventional search engine for point-of-care healthcare decision making. Healthagen was founded and iTriage developed by emergency medicine physicians. The company is privately- held and headquartered in Englewood, CO.
_________________
Robert Brady

	PocketGPS
	Web