Smartphone app Facilitates Doctor House Calls

A novel app for iOs and Android is making on-demand healthcare more accessible and affordable for every home.

The Heal (Pacific Palisades, CA, USA) smartphone app promises to deliver to the user’s house a family doctor or a pediatrician within 20–60 minutes of requesting a physician, for a flat fee of USD 99, payable via credit card. The Heal doctor comes equipped with everything needed to perform a thorough exam, including tools to electronically prescribe medication, order lab work, or refer to a specialist. Among the services the doctors can provide are diagnosis and treatment of moderate ailments like bronchitis and flu, minor surgery such as stitches, or writing a prescription.

To request a physician, users first need to download the app, and then type in a few details, including an address and the reason for the visit. The service is available from 8 am to 8 pm, seven days a week, and is currently available in Los Angeles and San Francisco. It is set to roll out in some 15 major US cities during 2015. All doctors are provided through an independent medical practice, Heal At-Home Medical. The medical record for the visit is accessible anytime, anywhere, and can be shared with other healthcare providers. Heal is available for the Apple iOS, Android, and is also available for the Apple Watch.

“We’re changing medicine for doctors by giving them more time with patients, more freedom and more compensation,” said Nick Desai, founder & CEO of Heal. “As a result, the doctors available through Heal provide a transformative in-home experience that has our Heal users saying ‘I don’t ever want to see a doctor any other way again.’ We believe that experience must start with a face-to-face, human interaction.”

Heal doctors use a range of emerging technologies, including the Hello Health Electronic Health Record (EHR), the CellScope mobile otoscope, the AliveCor electrocardiogram (ECG) device, and the Kinsa smart thermometer.

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