App built by doctors to take confusion out of hospital visits
LOS ANGELES: Experienced emergency department doctors working on the front line of healthcare have built an app that hands greater control to patients navigating a clogged system.
The app, called MyEd, is designed to give people information on everything from the wait time in an emergency department to information on health conditions from verified sources and other treatment options.
“So before they even go to ED they can go, right, this is the problem, I want some more information,” said co-founder Dr David Haunschmidt, who works in Hutt Valley.
“So [it’s] education about a condition or a process, then whether they even need to go to an emergency department or if they can have the problem sorted by a pharmacist or GP or even get advice online.”
Although it was still in the early development stages, he was hopeful it would be ready for trial in Hutt Hospital within a year. Hospitals are expecting to be under enormous strain with Covid-19 infection and influenza over the coming months.
Haunschmidt and his colleague Dr Sapi Mukerji built the app with Auckland-based software developer Michael Knight, born out of a desire to address some common questions from patients.
Along with wait times, this can include simple things like where to find a toilet in the hospital, or whether they can eat, Haunschmidt said.
“While I’m in the waiting room with my sprained ankle, what should I be doing? Well, we recommend you get some ice and elevate it – just simple things.”
The app also provided a function for patients to log extra information after they had been triaged. “It’s quite common for someone to come in, see a doctor, leave and then realise oh, I should have asked that, or I should have said that.”
The end goal was to simplify the “often complex and confusing” experience for patients, reduce long waiting times and improve the end result for people using the system, Haunschmidt said.
Asked how he was feeling ahead of winter, Haunschmidt said: “It’s getting busier everywhere … it’s difficult, but that’s part of why we want to do this, to make our own little way of trying to improve things.”
Much of the information was already out there, it was just a case of bringing it together in one accessible place, he said.
The team is one of 15 chosen from Wellington, Auckland, Dunedin, Whanganui and Kerikeri by Wellington innovation hub CreativeHQ for an accelerator programme, which gives startups the resources and support they need to develop their ideas, secure investment and upscale.
Until now, the app has been self-funded, Haunschmidt said.