AUSTIN, Texas—Aside from changing the game in entertainment, food delivery and social interaction; our phones could change healthcare.
Kevin had an eventful year.
"My wife and I welcomed our fourth baby," Kevin said. "Right as we brought him home, I started feeling really badly. That didn't seem to be the right thing to do leaving a nursing wife at home with four kids."
So he used the Medici Health App, which got him into contact with his doctor. It only turned out to be a 24-hour bug.
"It's very convenient," said Kevin.
A convenience shared by both patients and doctors.
"My patients get me. So they call me directly, anytime of the day,” said Ob-GYN, Dr. Shawn Tassone. “I know their history, I have their charts; so they're not calling somebody else who doesn't know anything about them."
The app lets both parties get in touch through texting and video conferencing, a talk Dr. Tassone could perform in-between patients. He said many of them live hours away and it's inconvenient to have them come in for something minor.
While the app was created to cut down on having to travel to see your doctor, it’s not meant to completely eliminate face-to-face contact.
"Face to face won't disappear, there will always be times that a doctor has to feel you,” said Medici CEO, Clinton Phillips. “But for the great majority, we really believe that it is a huge shift away from me having to go in."
Tassone added that this type of technology would help him keep up with the growing demand.
"We are now in an environment where healthcare needs to catch up in the sense that we instant message, we want things when we want them," he said.
The Medici Health App is compliant to patient privacy laws. It is free, but your doctor determines how much you will be charged. That could be the same as your co-pay or even be free.