There is an app for medical diagnosis

When the first signs of a cold arrive, many people will first run to their computer to type their symptoms into WebMD.com, before visiting an actual doctor. By feeding details about what symptoms they’re experiencing, as well as information about their medical history, the website can provide them with a list of potential conditions, not exactly a suitable substitute for a doctor’s diagnosis.

To help people avoid heeding inaccurate advice, two doctors have designed AvoMD, an app for physicians that operates under a similar premise, but can aid in making a diagnosis and designing treatment plans.

Dr. Joongheum Park began designing the app roughly three years ago, before he began working through a fellowship at Columbia University. Park met Dr. Yair Saperstein, a Lawrence resident who was taking an elective course at Columbia, while doing his residency at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn.

Park said that with the many constant changes in information doctors remain current on the latest medical news. He pointed to the guidelines on when or how to give certain medications might change –– AvoMD would keep track of this sort of changes and save a doctor’s time. “As physicians, we need help from machines,” Park said. “Most digital healthcare tools focus on the patients, instead of helping doctors practice more competently.”

The app’s prototype has been online for a year; Park and Saperstein hope to have AvoMD fully available before the end of 2019. In order to get the app to the next level, the pair had to venture into the world of business, something neither of them had experience in. With some help from Laurence Coman, a student at Columbia Business School who is serving as their chief financial officer, the medical duo gained admittance to ELabNYC, an organization that helps life science entrepreneurs connect with lawyers, philanthropists, non-profit organizations, mentors and more.

“It really opens up a world of connections for us,” Saperstein said. “Nine out of ten startups fail so opening up our network in this way is a huge help.”

AvoMD can be found on the app store, but Park, Saperstein and Coman are also working on partnering with hospitals, clinics and private practices. Coman said that he’s focused on the business aspects of the app, but said that helping doctors practice more efficiently is important. “This can be useful everywhere from urgent care centers to nursing homes,” he said. “It will reduce costs and help provide the best care.”

Park said he believes that by helping doctors diagnose, they’ll be helping the patients as well. “We hope that this helps to improve the quality of care that patients receive,” he said. “If we can make things run smoother for the doctors it’s going to make them happier, which will help the patient outcomes.”

More information and a demo of the app, can be accessed at www.avomd.io.