The following post is about how I developed an application named Text4Care, utilizing Node.js and various API’s, that aims to reduce medical care costs and ease the stress of clinics overwhelmed with unnecessary emergency room visits.
The Problem – The Misuse of Emergency Rooms
The overuse of U.S. emergency departments (EDs) is responsible for $38 billion in wasteful spending each year.
Patients spend more for services in the ER:
- $4 to $24,110 for sprains and strains;
- $15 to $17,797 for headaches;
- $128 to $39,408 for kidney stones;
- $50 to $73,002 for urinary tract infections.
Two-thirds of the patients believe they’d been unable to get care outside the emergency room. It has been estimated that avoidable visits to emergency rooms range as high as 56% of all visits.
The Overall Effects of ER Misuse – Physician Burn Out
Current conditions degrade the quality of patient care and contribute to overcrowding and long wait times Over 65% of emergency department directors report physician coverage problems. Current conditions contribute to the uncompensated care burden on physicians. Doctors report that a major portion of their bad debt is attributable to delivery of medical services required by federal law, amounting to $4.2 billion annually.
Text4Care – My Solution for ER Misuse and Physician Burnout
- A free chatbot service via SMS aimed to help reduce medical care costs and ease the strain on rural health clinics and hospitals overwhelmed with unnecessary emergency room visits.
- Provides immediate feedback about the patient’s condition on what next steps should be.
- Patients can contact the service at anytime and it will suggest a wide range of services that are readily available to them.
Please click here for slides: POC_T4C
You can demo this application directly on this post. Look below for instructions.
