Skin concern? Skip waiting for the MD and use your phone

Let’s say your child has a weird skin rash. What do you do? Head to the local clinic and wait for hours until a doctor examines your child for exactly 20 seconds before prescribing medication. A day truly well-spent. Not. One parent who had enough of this waiting game is Israeli entrepreneur Eugene Dicker. A few years ago, a single spot appeared on his daughter’s face. They spent the obligatory time waiting for a doctor who prescribed medication, but the condition worsened and even after consulting with another doctor spots appeared over most of her body.

Exasperated with the time wasted, Dicker phoned dermatology specialist Prof. Arieh Ingber, who proceeded to ask him a couple of questions before correctly diagnosing his daughter. “When all that happened over the phone, the penny dropped,” Dicker recounts. He realized that visuals aren’t the only channel for diagnosis and that he could translate the over-the-phone questioning to computerized Q&A – a move that could provide patients with correct diagnoses without going to the doctor. Shortly afterward, he joined forces with Ingber and two other doctors, and the startup DermaDetect was born.-- More...