Sutter Health's 24 hospitals and its network of 4,700 physicians in Northern California have teamed up with iTriage, a mobile phone application that provides patients with data about doctors and nearby hospitals.
"This this app tool [for the iPhone and Droid phones] is a way patients can search for the care they need," said Jeff Burnich MD an internist and senior vice president and executive officer of the Sutter Medical Network of Sutter Health.
For starters, with iTriage, a free download, they can learn about doctor in the Sutter physician network. Potential patients can see a doctor's board certification or practice specialty, hours and office addresses, languages spoken, medical training and degrees, affiliations and referral networks, whether he or she accepts new patients, what health plans are accepted, and a photo. The information provided is based on a patient's proximity as determined by GPS location.
Eventually, the listing for each physician will come with scorecards rating the doctor for patient satisfaction based on Press Ganey surveys, quality of care scores, and even how much time one must wait for an appointment.
The iTriage app also lets users click on a set of certain symptoms to find possible cause, and direct to an appropriate specialty physician accordingly. For example, he says, pointing to certain symptoms involving the eye will reveal the closest practicing neuro-ophthalmologist. "Not just a neurologist or an ophthalmologist. But a neuro-ophthalmologist," Burnich says.
True, most people who use desktop or laptop computers can find the same information online. "But if you look at the growth of the iPhone and the Droid the smartphone is really outpacing the use of desk-based computers. And from what I understand from my daughters, they don't do e-mail anymore. They text on their smartphones."
The information is or will soon all be there, much like a restaurant review system.
Burnich gave an example of how the app works at the hospital level. A hypothetical patient rafting on the American River endures a nasty cut on the leg and is bleeding profusely. In 30 seconds, Burnich's iPhone located the nearest appropriate Sutter emergency room. In the future, he says, iTriage will also show patients whether hospital emergency rooms are busy or are on bypass.
Dialing 911, through the smart phone's GPS, will dial the nearest emergency station as well.
"Your son twists an ankle in a soccer game. Is it broken? Sprained? Should you go to the emergency room to get X-rays?" rhetorically asks a Sutter Health statement on the iTriage launch. "Californians can use their smartphone to get instant health information and find a nearby healthcare provider through the free healthcare app iTriage.
The Sutter-iTriage partnership also will allow patients with Google Health access to quickly access their medical records through the use of a link to yourhealthrecord.com.
Burnich said smartphone apps like iTriage are revolutionizing healthcare. "The Web was one phase of this revolution," he says. "But having all of this in your hand, at your fingertips, anywhere, I think is the next big thing."
Sutter spokeswoman Kami Lloyd said Sutter Health, the second largest healthcare system in Northern California is the second system in California to partner with iTriage. She said information on affiliated clinics, urgent care centers, retail clinics and pharmacies nationwide come embedded and updated with the iTriage app.