Jalil Thurber

As an emergency physician, I have seen many people make needless and costly ER visits after 'googling' their symptoms online. In many cases, an online search for answers actually led to an unfounded escalation of fears. A recent study by Microsoft, found that the medical content on the internet is skewed towards more serious conditions. This is part of the reason why ‘googling’ your symptoms is not the best way to arrive at a diagnosis. However, the internet is a powerful tool and it can be leveraged to help ‘online diagnosers’ arrive at the answers they seek. At Symptify our contribution to this problem is the creation of a proprietary, patent-pending algorithmic engine that renders virtual consultations by asking users a series of questions regarding their symptoms. Because Symptify takes into account the users own medical history it gives personalized and precise results. This has helped many people become more knowledgeable regarding their health conditions and help them avoid cyberchondria. Symptify also facilitates a user’s access to healthcare providers by allowing them to transmit their consultation record and medical profile to participating facilities. Check it out at: www.symptify.com -Jalil Thurber M.D. The first step to therapy is identifying the disease.