iTriage APP, New For Smart Phones

Today’s Wall Street Journal had a story on the growth of personal on-line health symptom checking. It described how doctor’s attitudes towards patient’s use of the internet for diagnosis is changing.  They are a little more receptive now to a patient's good work with checking out their problem on-line.  But, specifically they warn that only a doctor can truly find your disease or lack of same, and so it is dangerous to worry about, or otherwise seek treatment for something “you think you have”. In search of a smart phone easy-check system, the App iTriage was created.

 iTriage has wonderful possibilities, but the actual use of it leaves me wishing it was more developed.  The screens work well, and the concept seems solid, but many symptoms and drugs I entered were missing entirely. Searching function needs lots of improvement.  

Here is what it offers – you can enter a symptom and it searches for advice, and includes help such as the nearest hospital that treats that, and so on.  You can enter a medication and find out all the information you normally get with the prescription when you pick it up at the pharmacy (only much less information than a pharmacy like Walgreens provides).  Side effects are listed as well.  iTriage works well in concept,  but the information is scant in my opinion and thus falls short of its potential.

If you are so inclined, download it (it is free and has 365 user comments with 5-star rating) and experiment.  Note that it has a sliding bar to indicate your age and sex and sex so it can better filter the findings when you search. That idea certainly has good potential.  Given 2 years of improvements and additions, this app might be useful.  One of the claims in the WSJ story is that it might someday be your gateway to the emergency room. By pre-loading your personal information (when you first install it) and clicking on your new symptoms, it will make an appointment for you on your way to the emergency room – possibly allowing you to see the correct doctor there faster.

Comment on your findings and opinion to this Blog Post (below).