There are a lot of things that get in the way of people receiving the medical care they need. Pager aims to improve the rate at which patients get to see doctors by arranging house calls through an app, acting like how Uber is to transportation.
With Pager, individuals in need of medical attention need not step out of their homes, which could be easily classified as an ordeal depending on what ails a person. By essentially bringing a doctor to a patient's home, the service makes it not just more convenient to seek medical help but more affordable as well in many situations.
At the moment, Pager is not covered by insurance plans. Customers using the app have to pay $50 for a first visit and $200 for the subsequent ones. Yes, the fee is around 10 times more expensive than the usual $15 to $25 co-payments but it's definitely more manageable than the $505 median cost of going to an emergency room. And often, those who don't have insurance go to emergency rooms to receive medical attention.
New York City is the only area serviced by Pager right now but it's looking to expand in the coming weeks to add San Francisco to the mix. According to one of Pager's founders, Gaspard de Dreuzy, the service usually schedules doctors' visits for working mothers between the ages of 30 and 45.
"It's really an urban population that is busy and values its time," he added.
According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, 9 of 10 general practitioners don't usually make house calls. But while Pager provides a practical service to interested patients, some doctors are concerned that the app does not complement the traditional health care system.
For instance, doctors making visits depending on simply on what was scheduled with an app may not be familiar with a patient's medical history, which could be detrimental to treating chronic conditions.
One of the ways around this concern is for Pager and similar services to team up with hospital networks, with the app taking care of scheduling a visit and hospitals providing the doctors making the visits. This will also improve trust in the service, which could win over not just patients but insurance companies as well.
Photo: James Palinsad | Flickr
