Human Diagnosis Project Aims to Address Challenges Among Uninsured

A patient goes to their primary care physician’s office, rolls up his sleeves, and explains that a painful rash he’s had for the past few weeks has been hindering his ability to work. The physician believes he recognizes the symptoms, but knows that the patient should have the expertise of a dermatologist.

So, the physician fires up the Human Diagnosis Project (Human Dx) app and explains the patient’s symptoms. Soon after, a dermatologist confirms the primary care physician’s suspicion and the patient receives a diagnosis without having to make another appointment or pay any additional fees.

This is the idea behind the Human Dx, which aims to provide more accurate, affordable, and accessible care for all.

 

“Nearly 1 in 10 Americans are uninsured, but access primary care through the nation’s safety net system of roughly 1300 public hospitals, community health centers, and free clinics,” Jayanth Komarneni, founder and chair of Human Dx, said in a press release.^1,2 “However, a critical gap remains in access for these patients to specialty medical care, with 91% of safety net clinics reporting difficulty obtaining specialty care for the uninsured when their condition requires it…. Patient’s options are limited — they can pay out of pocket for specialists or delay treatment. “

But now thanks to Human Dx, physicians across medical specialties can come together to offer a better solution that puts the patient first.

Human Dx is an open intelligence system that maps the steps to help any patient. It combines the collective intelligence of physicians around the globe with machine learning to help physicians and patients make better informed clinical decisions.

Human Dx was a semifinalist in the 2017 100&Change project at the MacArthur Foundation.³ During the next 5 years, the Human Dx Alliance hopes to expand project access across the country, using a network of 8000 safety net clinics and 50,000 specialist physicians and providing care access to more than 30 million patients.

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References

1. Key facts about the uninsured population. Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. https://www.kff.org/uninsured/fact-sheet/key-facts-about-the-uninsured-population/. Published September 19, 2018. Updated November 29, 2017. Accessed June 22, 2018.
2. The Human Diagnosis Project named semi-finalist in MacArthur Foundation competition for $100 million grant [news release]. Human Diagnosis Project. https://www.humandx.org/news. Published February 15, 2017. Accessed June 18, 2018.
3. Human Diagnosis Project. MacArthur Foundation. https://www.macfound.org/press/semifinalist-profile/human-diagnosis-project/. Accessed June 22, 2018.

This article originally appeared on Medical Bag