Doctors On Tap
[T]heir mobile app connect[s] you with doctors who [can] answer your health questions at any time, right on your smartphone. Now, HealthTap has improved its service to give you personal and private medical consultations, a directory of local doctors, all ranked by quality, and the ability to schedule in-person appointments right through the app.
HT: Jason Shafrin.
What’s really sad is much of this nifty technology doesn’t fit neatly in the third-party payment mechanism. To talk to a doctor by mobile ap requires someone willing to pay the doctor for his or her time. Insurers certainly don’t want to reimburse consultations deemed not important enough to schedule an office visit. Patients accustomed to co-pays certainly don’t want to pay out of pocket. Because of these factors, this technology is currently relegated to the margins.
I like it.
I think that this is a good idea if done the right way. I think that doctors should charge these services on a different account and completely transparent. For instance, x number of responses will cost x amount. Length of response could also be accounted for in price and layed out in the terms and conditions. This could save the doctor and patient lots of time and money.
Fantastic idea that I hope is used for the right reasons.
What an awesome idea. I really think this is an idea that has the potential to take off.
Patients receiving care from hospitals and physicians using Epic MyChart have had this for years. This is the Android version, but there is an Apple version as well: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=epic.mychart.android&hl=en
“There’s an app for that.”