Hello All
Junior Doc here. Been reading through the last few pages and all the speculation on what us Drs will do with this app has given me a bit of a chuckle.
To start off, I think this is a very exciting app and technology, and has the potential to be a leader in the tele-health revolution.
However, I don't believe this technology will change clinical medicine a whole lot, and certainly not in the short term.
It is important to understand that when we see a patient face to face, yes we listen with our stethoscopes. But that is only to get a general idea as to what is going on. I personally, and most if not all Drs would not base any diagnosis or start treatment based only off what we hear with stethoscopes. Our diagnosis is supplemented with further Ix such as Chest Xrays or CT scans. It is important to understand that our stethoscopes are such TOOLS, the same as Imaging, the same as ResAPP. They are all diagnosis TOOLS. We collect the data from all our tools to come up with the diagnosis.
So if you're thinking clinical Drs will suddenly be whipping out our smart phones and using ResAPP or any other tool to singularly diagnose any medical condition, you have misunderstood how Drs operate. I don't think we will be saying "Have you gotten the ResAPP ©® diagnosis" for at least 5-10 years.
As with any new technology, they are initially expensive to license to use. I expect the same with ResAPP. There is simply no incentive, especially for public hospitals here in Australia which all have their budgets at redline, to use ResAPP whilst it is such a new technology. We simply have an abundance of cheaper tools available to us that will be able to lead to the same Dx, i.e. cheap Xrays + clinical presentation.
Similarly for the local GP clinics, or even superclinics, there is no incentive to use this tool. When in doubt, the GP will simply prescribe antibiotics. Now if GPs were getting sued left right and centre for misdiagnosis of pneumonia (serious lung infection), sure, there might be a financial and security incentive to use ResAPP, but they aren't getting sued. The GP will also sent the pt off for cheap Xrays, and in the mean time simply cover the possibility to a lung infection with antibiotics.
All in all, yes, this is a very exciting app. BUT I believe the most excitement will still be in the tele-health world were doing things like listening to the chest AND ordering imaging is sometimes just not possible. It will slowly creep into the clinical world, but not for the next half-decade to decade. I know some here will have their heads completely in the sand and scoff at what I've said, but for those who are more level-headed, I hope the personal opinion of a clinician has helped you understand this stock and it's potential a bit better.
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