WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — An illness-tracking tool created by a Triad doctor is getting an overhaul as the colder months approach.

What You Need to Know

The Sneez app helps users track illnesses by zip code

A new update aims to make the tool more accessible

Users can also use Sneez to get illness alerts and get connected to care

According to the company, the new web-based version pulls data from local hospitals to create a heat map of illnesses based on the zip code entered by the user. It can also send location-based alerts and connect users to care.

Sneez founder and CEO Dr. Bill Satterwhite said a perk of the web-based model is that users don’t have to download anything and will be able to use the app on whatever device meets their needs. He hopes the update will help users with everything from general curiosity to finding treatment.

“We want the platform to be able to do both of those things,” Satterwhite said. “Inform people in advance so they can plan and think but also respond to them in the moment if they say I actually have a need now.”

Satterwhite’s life is dedicated to health care. He has a background in pediatrics and as a chief health and wellness officer. He is especially interested in figuring out how health care can evolve by taking a proactive approach instead of waiting for an illness to strike. That’s what he hopes to accomplish with a tool like Sneez.

“When my grandfather was born in 1897 as he was growing up and as an adult, you know how he knew what the weather was? He went outside! That’s historically how we’ve done illness, weather in a sense,” Satterwhite said.  “I just had that feeling that we can do better than that.”

The Sneez tool is available here.