It will provide easy access to information to help self-diagnose and get treatment for those without access to insurance or health care. It would allow anyone to search symptoms and via machine learning, provide relevant information for initial self-care. A second layer allows patients to have a back up by phone call or video with doctors or send pictures to help patients find care if deemed necessary.
My app bridges the gap between patients without many resources and information to help self-diagnose without being too complicated to understand. We go a step further by using machine learning to find actually relevant results and use doctors we have available to provide virtual care to patients for a fraction of the cost.
The big picture or why we have chosen to take this path is clear; Healthcare costs are increasing year over year; presently on average Americans pay approximately $10,345 per person for healthcare service delivery. Removing unnecessary doctor visits and streamlining access to relevant medical information is key.
I've been working on this application in conjunction with David Ring, an MD PhD and Associate Dean for Comprehensive Care at the Dell Medical School. David and myself have a team of three other graduate students at the University of Texas at Austin working towards this project.
This app allows for an easy information exchange between anyone with an Internet connection and our web services that provide relevant answers to any symptoms a patient might have. Doctors are also available to help diagnose patients with a range of options available as well.
If our team wins we will use the prize money to:
- employ one or more part time/full time community health navigators to serve as a distribution channel of our app such that they train patients on how to use the app and they serve as a feedback loop to further enhance and improve the application.
- further refine the application user experience UX and user interface UI
- iOS and Android development
- blockchain development
- HIPAA and related security costs to ensure protection of sensitive data
- a small percentage, approximately 5%-7% will be used towards administrative and project management costs
- back-end support to run our servers and help pilot our program at the Dell Medical School to the greater Austin area.
