First Derm’s Updated Teledermatology App Answers Your Skin-Related Questions Within Hours
San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) April 21, 2014 -- iDoc24 released an updated app late last week, ensuring that First Derm consults give parents the right answer about appropriate next steps but are as easy as a Google search. A dermatologist sees about 3000 patients with skin issues per year. Dermatologists know the skin better than other doctors, and much better than any Internet search. However, the average wait time to see a dermatologist in the United States is 28.8 days, according to a recent survey from Merritt Hawkins. In Boston, the wait time is 76 days. Try telling a concerned mom that she’ll have to wait a month or two to have her baby’s rash looked at by a dermatologist. During the wait, many millennial parents will search for medical information on the Internet, which, especially when it comes to dermatology, can be very difficult. Based on the pictures and text parents send, First Derm, a teledermatology app by iDoc24, gets parents personalized medical information within 24 hours, even on weekends and holidays when there’s no doctor around.
More and more parents are discovering First Derm’s convenient, accurate, and low-cost answer on what to do next about their child’s skin issues. “Recently, we had a case in which parents tried treating their school-aged son’s rash with an antibiotic cream prescribed by their physician,” says iDoc24’s founder and CEO Dr. Alexander Börve. “When the rash didn’t improve, and because it was over the weekend and their physician wasn’t available, the parents wanted a second opinion on what to do next. They sent a picture into First Derm and had an answer in less than 24 hours, with information that the rash was not a bacterial infection.”
Over 80 percent of Internet users take to medical information sites, such as WebMD, to attempt to self-triage. First Derm takes the anxiety and guesswork out of the search for medical information. “I received a reassuring and detailed reply within a couple of hours from a respected dermatologist,” according to one user. “I got confirmation of the diagnosis from a family doctor and the advice I received from this app was spot on."
“In a time where more and more mothers are using Google search, WebMD and community health portals as a first step in diagnosis for their families, Börve explains, First Derm provides a more reliable and effective resource to help give parents peace of mind, and in many cases, guidance on, ‘what to do next,’ when that unexpected rash appears.”
In a First Derm consultation, parents use their smartphones to capture and send pictures and written descriptions of skin conditions and symptoms anonymously. A board-certified dermatologist reviews each case, and recommends either over-the-counter treatments available at most pharmacies or an in-person consultation with a health care provider.
First Derm dermatologists have reviewed several thousand cases since the app launch. Of those cases, 70 percent were able to self-treat with an over-the-counter medication and 30 percent were advised to see a family doctor or dermatologist in person for further testing, diagnosis, and treatment. For less than most co-pays, parents are able to save valuable time and ensure that their kids feel better, faster. The updated First Derm app is available free of charge in the app store. For more information, please visit http://www.FirstDerm.com.
Jennifer Lonzer, iDoc24, http://www.firstderm.com, +1 216-406-3885, [email protected]
Share this article