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Don’t Want to Leave the House to See a Doctor? There’s an App for That

It is reasonable to say that when someone feels under the weather, the last thing they’d want to do is venture from the comfort of their bed and home to get in a car to see a doctor. For those people who are stuck in their homes because of illness, there is a new app available that lets them find a doctor that will go to them.

There are now a number of apps that help patients get doctors to go to them, like a house call. In 2014, Pager, an app that acts as a house call service, was introduced. The doctors who are associated with Pager are on call from 8 am to 10 pm. ‘Telemedicine’ is a way that those in the health care profession are offering their services. Telemedicine involves technology such as email, two-way video, and smartphones to connect with patients. Some apps allow patients to speak to a doctor by phone, as well. Photo and video messages received by doctors from patients are put into the patient’s file.

House call apps work by having doctors analyze whether or not a house call is necessary. That analysis takes place after a video conference with the patient. If the doctor determines that there is no need for a house call, the patient isn’t charged for the conference. Also, the patient isn’t charged for the conference if the doctor recommends that the patient or patients go to an emergency room. After the conference, doctors are available to do follow ups and they are available to answer patients’ questions.

Right now, the house calls apps are not yet available for android smart-phones. There are at least a couple of companies, though, who are working on android apps. A couple of advantages of house call apps are more privacy and convenience. However, one of the drawbacks is that doctors won’t have with them during house calls as many technological options as there would be in the doctor’s office.
House call apps are possibly a part of the future of the health care system. Since they are generally less expensive than emergency room visits, the amount of money spent on health care could possibly go down somewhat if more people begin to use house call apps.  It will be interesting to see if these doctor’s visits will go beyond the realm of illness and sickness and onto injuries.

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