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Jersey is being described as a "perfect test-bed" for new digital health care services following the launch of a new app enabling virtual doctors' appointments.
The app is called Babylon, and has been created by Ali Parsa who says the island's commitment to a digital future made it easy to launch the new app here.
Patients can now dial in to their doctors at five Island surgeries - Island Medical Centre, Castle Quay Surgery, Health Plus, Cleveland Clinic and Lister Surgery - who together look after almost half of the Island’s population.
Islanders who have signed up can book an appointment, have a consultation, get a diagnosis and keep track of their healthcare – all on their mobiles.
Mr Parsa believes your medical records should be in your pocket and you should have quick access to them just like your bank account.
He said there’s been a good response from Islanders to the app which won’t cost patients any more than a face to face consultation and he says local GP’s are keen to see how much they can do remotely.
He said: "GPs are still using their own judgement – they can do just as good a job remotely, one out of five times they might say you still need to see me or you need to see a specialist but four out of five times they won’t.”
Jersey is the first jurisdiction to pioneer the service on such a wide scale and Mr Parsa is keen to see how it grows organically over the next few months. The head of Digital Jersey Paul Masterton says the Island provides “the perfect ‘testbed’ opportunity for global businesses to test, develop and refine products and services before rolling them out more widely.”
If the roll-out is a success patients could soon be able to pick up ePrescriptions from their local pharmacy and monitor aspects of their personal health from their SmartPhone.
You can download the free Babylon app on your iPhone by going to the Apple App Store and searching “Babylon”. You’ll be asked for to register your name, email address and date of birth before the Babylon team will activate your account.
If you have an Android phone you can find the app by searching the Google Play Store.
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