Got a few odd aches and pains but don't feel like it's time to head to the doctor's office just yet? Popular health web site WebMD's Symptom Checker analyzes your symptoms and suggests what might be the cause. Once you've narrowed down your symptoms you can view more details about the potential culprit, including its causes and treatment. We'd never recommend using WebMD's Symptom Checker to handle all of your healthcare needs, but it's definitely a useful tool given the right circumstances.
While this is not an ideal substitute for visiting a doctor when you are having a serious health issue, it is a great tool for investigating possible ailments when you are experiencing a set of symptoms.
I am curious what the accuracy of a tool like this would be compared to seeing a health care professional? If tools like this become well developed (possibly with a bit of artificial intelligence and/or interface with electronic medical records), it could reduce the amount of time health care professionals spend in rudimentary daignoses. It also helps better inform the public when they go see a doctor so they know what questions they should be asking about.
If usage of these types of online systems become wide-spread and the technology gets more developed, I could see this helping the health care industry become significantly more efficient.
Check it out and see what you think. I am very impressed and am excited by future developments in this area. I wonder if there's any way this could be augmented with a device at home that checks your pulse, blood pressure, and temperature? Maybe eventually combining with an in-home device that can check your body chemsitry by analyzing your breath, saliva, or sweat rather than blood? (Blood tests on a chip are already in development.)
No comments:
Post a Comment