With all the traveling us mobile users like to do during the summer – whether you’re finally making that trip to Hawaii you’ve always wanted to plan, honeymooning off a June wedding, or going out of town on business, there’s a chance that you’ll run the risk of getting sick. Airports are nasty, public transportation is a germ ward, and the lack of sleep we endure while traveling all makes for a lowered immune system. You might find yourself in need of a doctor on-the-go. Luckily, you have a mobile device. And we have the apps for you.
Vitals allows users with iPhones to find doctors in their areas, but also enables them to rate their services afterwards. By storing the information located on health insurance cards, Vitals simplifies the process of finding a healthcare professional that takes a traveler’s insurance. The app also allows users to locate specialists rather than general practitioners.
St. John of God Health Care provides the patrons of that large health organization the ability to find a doctor in their areas that can assist the medical needs of the traveler associated with the hospital. This app is for Android users only.
If you’re an Aetna customer, the healthcare insurance company just upgraded its application that allows users to not only locate healthcare professionals, but to research symptoms. (Probably better than Yahoo! Answers since we all know the quality of reply to “There is this weird red patch on my arm. What is it?)
In the category of apps that help you self-diagnose, there is the Virtual Doctor invented by Dr. Stephen J. Shueler. The doctor commented in reports on the development and purpose of the app as it performs what is known as “symptom triage:” “Performing triage is not the same as making a diagnosis. The goals of triage are to determine a person’s risk for serious illness, to assess how sick he or she is, and to decide when to seek care. In contrast, making a diagnosis requires a doctor to find the cause in order to select the right treatment. Most triage is performed outside the health care system, where consumers must decide when and where to seek care by themselves, with no physician input.”
Traveling out of the country can be especially troublesome should you fall ill while abroad – and citizens of the U.S. venturing to other continents seem to have the most issues. Not only are signs possibly in other languages, but the measurements for doses of medication are indecipherable should you not be familiar with alternate systems of weight and volume. The mPassport Paris, and the mPassport London are two apps from HTH Worldwide that help the iPhone user find doctors and provides a drug equivalency guide.
Edited by
Brooke Neuman
