According to Douglas Macmillan’s
article, One Medical Group has recently purchased a startup app called Rise. The
app’s main purpose is to allow patients to have fast and easy access to
physicians through the use of their smartphones. A feature called Treat Me Now
offers healthcare solutions for minor ailments. The app also allows users to
communicate with nutritionists regarding healthy meal choices. In exchange for these services, members must
pay an annual subscription fee ranging from $99-$199. The startup app cost One
Medical Group around $20 million to purchase, but is expected to be highly
lucrative.
One
important piece of information that the article points out is that digital
healthcare and mobile fitness apps are fairly new, but are rapidly gaining
popularity amongst smartphone users. This can be attributed to the fact that
consumers today favor efficiency. Rise has the potential to save patients from
having to travel to the doctor’s office, linger in waiting rooms, and pay the
bills linked to those visits, therefore making healthcare quick and easy.
A second
point that the article brings up is how difficult it is for startup software to
gain popularity on its own. In its initial life of only two years, Rise managed
to raise $4 million in investments, however it is still in its beginning
phases. Its creators are hopeful that teaming up with One Medical Group will
give the app the publicity that it needs to fully take off.
The article
also calls attention to what a normalcy it has become to give up personal
information to technology. In order to use the app to its full potential, users
must be comfortable with releasing their own medical histories to a virtual
world. Because of the new acquisition the app will now have access to a
patient’s pre-existing healthcare files at One Medical Group.
However, what the article and the
app may be overlooking is the potential for medical malpractice suits. With
technology like this, the physical aspect of a doctor’s diagnosis is
eliminated. Without actually seeing the patients it may be difficult for
doctors to make legitimate a diagnosis, which could lead to legal action.
Additionally, the article did not mention much about how the physicians will be
selected and screened. Lastly, the app seems to have the potential for possible
security breaches. Users will have to release a significant amount of medical
history to the app in order to have a personalized experience. As we have seen
in past examples, it is not out of the question hackers to have the ability to
steal personal data from iCloud and smartphones.
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2016/02/05/one-medical-buys-virtual-nutritionist-app-rise/?mod=ST1
To me this is a great concept. It would be wonderful to never have to spend time in the doctor’s office waiting for your appointment or to get medical attention when you are out of town and cannot get to a doctors office. However, with the high cost of health care patients may not be willing to pay additional fees. Considering the doctors can only diagnose minor ailments this concept may not be cost efficient. Also what is considered a minor ailment? Will the doctors write prescriptions for coughs, colds, etc.? If they do how would the doctor know that the patient is legitimate? Hackers could probably create bogus accounts just to get prescriptions. If they cannot give you a prescription than what would be the benefit of scribing to the app? I also think some patients will be skeptical of the quality of doctors. Usually people find their favorite doctor from a relative or friend’s recommendation and they develop a relationship with that doctor. Although initially it all sounds good sometimes we need to think how this may change the medical field and if we are moving in the right direction.
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