Worried about the coronavirus? Now you can text message a chatbot with questions
The new partnership is “a public health tool accessible to anyone who has text messaging on their phone,” says Manav Sevak, Memora’s CEO. Memora Health, founded in 2016, provides patient texting services to healthcare systems. “The majority of Americans have access to a cell phone,” Sevak says, “and texting is a lower barrier to entry for many folks" than visiting a doctor or even video-based telemedicine.
Ro, founded in 2017, is best known for providing direct-to-consumer erectile dysfunction medication to patients after a telemedicine visit with a doctor on the Ro platform. Its sister site Rory, aimed at women, sells eyelash enhancing drops and treatments for genital herpes. Zachariah Reitano, Ro CEO andalum, says that he saw a need in the fast-moving COVID-19 outbreak that his company’s technology could fill.
Telemedicine is crucial in an infectious disease outbreak, says Ray Dorsey, the director of the Center for Health + Technology at the University of Rochester Medical Center. It allows patients to stay out of clinical settings where they could be exposed to the disease, and it also protects healthcare workers, some of the most vulnerable people in outbreaks.
It is not without challenges. For one, telemedicine usually relies on the idea that everyone has access to the internet, which isn’t true. It also requires doctors to be licensed in the states that they practice, a hurdle that Ro has already passed. Another issue: telemedicine isn’t covered by all forms of insurance, including, until recently, Medicare. On March 6th, President Trump signed an $8.
At the University of Rochester, Dorsey uses telemedicine to treat patients with Parkinson’s disease. He says that using it for the coronavirus outbreak may normalize its use in the future for other ailments."The fundamental aim of telemedicine is to provide care to anyone, anywhere that needs it," Dorsey says,"Hopefully we'll take lessons from this.”
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Dow falls 700 points at the openWall Street's roller coaster week continues as investors continue to worry about the coronavirus outbreak.
Read more »
How does coronavirus spread? How do you get it?Growing concerns about the coronavirus pandemic have raised basic questions about the infection.
Read more »
'Everybody is upside down:' Lobbyists flooded with calls from corporate clients worried about coronavirusSome of the most powerful lobbyists in Washington said corporate leaders are growing increasingly concerned that the Trump administration and Congress don't have a handle on the coronavirus crisis.
Read more »
Tom Hanks, Rita Wilson Are Fine Amid Coronavirus Diagnosis, Says SonAfter Tom Hanks shared that he and Rita Wilson tested positive for Coronavirus, Chet Hanks took to Instagram to give an update on his parents, noting that the duo are fine and not even that sick.
Read more »