I was recently out for a bike ride when the weather took a turn for the worst.  A steady drizzle rendered the roads somewhat slick, and as I descended a narrow country lane it prompted a heightened level of caution.

Alas, with rain from the previous days having washed a lot of debris into an already heavily potholed road, the surface was atrocious, and it wasn’t long before me and my bike were sliding separately down the lane.

After gingerly hobbling back home I took myself to the local minor injury unit to get the road rash looked at, and went through what I imagine is the usual procedure in such units throughout the land.  A form was filled in, the receptionists then conducted a triage based upon the information given, and I had to wait for my turn to be called, largely oblivious to either my place in the ‘queue’ nor how long I would have to wait.

The wait turned out to be around 90 minutes, after which the nurse took one look at my wounds and suggested that I really should have been seen a bit quicker.

Better triaging

One service that is attempting to improve matters is known as Bright.md.  They offer an automated consultation service that aims to reduce the time spent waiting and triaging, thus allowing doctors to spend more time in actual consultations.

The service allows patients to complete their information remotely, thus performing the first part of the consultation from wherever they like.  So, I could have registered my details on the way to the hospital, for instance.

The developers of the software claim that usage could reduce the cost of each visit by up to 80 percent, whilst also significantly reducing the waiting time for patients.

Suffice to say, it is likely to be some time before AI tools perform the triaging of patients in place of existing human operators, but with innovations such as Bright.md making increasing inroads and advancements in the area, it seems a service that is ripe for change.

Check out their promo video below for more information about the service.