Babylon Health

Babylon Healthcare Services Limited
Founded 2013 (2013)
Headquarters London, United Kingdom
Founder(s) Ali Parsa
Industry Health Care
Website www.babylonhealth.com
Current status Active

Babylon, also known as Babylon Health, is a subscription health service provider that enables users to have virtual consultations with doctors and health care professionals via text and video messaging through its mobile application.[1] The service also allows users to receive drug prescriptions, referrals to health specialists, and book health exams with nearby facilities.[2]

The English company was founded in 2013 by Ali Parsa and was the first service of its kind to be registered with the Care Quality Commission, an independent health care services regulator and inspector in England.[3] As of January 2016, Babylon has raised $25M in funding from its Series A round.[4] Its investors include Hoxton Ventures, Kinnevik AB as well as the founders of Google DeepMind.

Overview

Users can choose to subscribe to a monthly fee and gain unlimited virtual access to general practitioners, or opt for a pay-as-you-go model. The app enables users to confidentially send text messages, photos, and video inquiries to the company's team of health care professionals that include doctors, nurses, and therapists.[3] The app is available for iOS and Android mobile devices.

Features

Consultations

Users are able to send questions and set up consultations with Babylon's GPs. The service is meant to answer questions for common medical topics such as fever, sore throat, allergies, skin irritations, and colds. If prescriptions are required, they are mailed to the user's address, or sent to a pharmacy for pickup. Users also have the option to consult with therapists to discuss topics such as depression and anxiety. At the end of the consultations, users are able to review their experience anonymously.[3]

Health monitor

Users can sync their activity trackers' data with the app for health monitoring. This data, which can include things such as number of calories, sleep, pulse, and stress levels, can then be used to build a health plan for the user.[5]

Test and kits

Babylon provides a delivery service for test kits that users can request. These diagnostic kits can be used for testing things such as diabetes, cholesterol, and sugar levels. Users can send the samples back to Babylon Health, and access the results through their app.[6]

AI

As of January 2016, Babylon is developing an A.I. feature that would pre-screen the users' health conditions.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Tech pioneer brings GP appointments into the living room". Telegraph.co.uk. 28 April 2014.
  2. ↑ "AI, robots, pocket doctors: Patient-centred health tech". BBC News.
  3. 1 2 3 "Babylon app puts a GP in your pocket". Wired UK.
  4. ↑ http://techcrunch.com/2016/01/13/babylon-health/
  5. ↑ "Monitor". babylon.
  6. ↑ "Doctor in your pocket? Babylon replaces your GP with an App". The Memo.
  7. ↑ http://www.forbes.com/sites/parmyolson/2015/11/12/the-a-i-will-see-you-now/#2715e4857a0b789686555159

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/3/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.