A local company has set up a website that offers online risk assessment for people concerned about the coronavirus.
“It basically interviews you like a doctor does. Except it’s totally a computer,” said Andrew Le, CEO of Buoy Health. “Taking that guesswork out is a really big pain point for people when they’re scared and there’s so much complexity to healthcare.”
The company uses artificial intelligence it’s been developing for seven years to help people determine what actions they should take if they fear they have the virus. It assesses risk using questions about age and symptoms and uses CDC guidelines to direct users.
Based on symptoms, users will be told if they should self-isolate and whether they should get an emergency medical professional on the line. If that’s the case, the website lets you find your insurance agency and will connect you to a physician in your network, avoiding both physical contact and calls to emergency phone lines.
“A lot of people are just calling in when they might not need to, waiting hours in line to talk to someone,” Le said. “Clogging up the pipes for others who may need to talk to a physician.”
The website is available here.
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