FreeMD.com is website which conducts a short interview starting with the main symptom and assembles a list of likely diagnoses. The questions and answers are done via short pre-recorded videos by a real physician.Try some allergy-related queries like "rash", "runny nose", "wheezing" to see how it works.
The website can also be used for education of medical students and residents -- it guides you through the high-yield questions and the most likely causes of symptoms.
In my tests, the online diagnostic tool FreeMD worked well, and due to its large number of pre-recorded videos, it was interactive and fun to use. Dr. Val and Happy Hospitalist also tried the website with a few different scenarios but they did not think it was ready for clinical use:
Diagnosis Without Physician Input: Russian Roulette Online
Standing Behind Your Product
Related reading:
Diagnostic Checklist - UToronto
Symcat is a new online symptom checker and "diagnosis calculator" http://goo.gl/F4ZmR
Big Insurers Pay for Online Doctor Visits. WSJ.
Link via David Rothman.
The doctor is ... YOU! Online medical symptom checkers examined. Can interactive tools from the likes of WebMD and MayoClinic.com really find what ails you? Computerworld, 02/2009.
Image source: Wikipedia
I used this when my kids got sick. It gave me good advice and saved an expensive visit to the ER.
ReplyDeleteMary Jones
Orlando, Florida
The site clearly notes that it does not give diagnoses, but performs a triage to helps us make a decision where to go. When you step in the ER door are you questioned by a doc first?
ReplyDelete