Babylon by Telus Health allows B.C. residents to visit doctors virtually

Telus Wellness and Babylon have launched a healthcare app that aims to help Canadians "visit a doctor through their smartphone."

A Telus Wellness senior executive says the partnership is part of a broader effort to revolutionizing Canada's healthcare system.

Juggy Sihota, vice-president of Telus Wellness, explained that the overarching goal of the initiative is to offer Canadians healthcare at an affordable rate. She added that five meg Canadians don't have a family doctor, with this trouble condign even more of an issue when care is needed, and a md isn't available.

"If yous need healthcare and information technology's after-hours yous're limited to what you tin practice. This service is going to change that. It's going to relieve the pressure from emergency rooms and save the pressure level for people that are worrying about healthcare issues that they don't take a md that they can see. They can do that all with their telephone," said Sihota in a recent interview with MobileSyrup.

Telus Health app

During a printing briefing at Telus' headquarters in downtown Vancouver, the national telecom provider's healthcare arm and the British digital healthcare provider revealed the new app, which will be offered to residents in British Columbia (B.C.) initially. Sihota said that Telus Wellness has been in conversations with various provincial governments to bring the service to other provinces and expects the platform launch later on this year.

"We are really excited in launching in B.C. commencement, and nosotros retrieve B.C. can be the case for the rest of the country to follow," said Sihota.

In B.C. residents will be able to access the app'south 1-on-one video consultation feature that allows them "to speak directly and privately with a B.C.-licenced family doctor from anywhere." The patient's B.C. provincial Medical Services Programme volition cover the price of this consultation, says Sihota.

The app can exist downloaded from the iOS App Store and the Google Play store, but only the English version is currently bachelor, with a French-language iteration launching later on this year.

Sihota explained that while residents in B.C. will have access to this service by registering with their electronic mail and logging in through their MSP number, Canadians across the state will exist able to use the bogus intelligence (AI) chatbot Symptom Checker.

Sihota explained that the Symptom Checker portion of the app isn't like WebMD and that Doctors and scientists helped create the platform by utilizing more than than "500 meg streams of medical knowledge and asks patients questions about their symptoms providing information on possible causes or courses of action."

Telus Health

"When you await at this service, going to WebMD and Medico Google can exist alarming because you lot're left with whatever symptom and god forbid you lot become to the blogs and y'all read the scary things. Our AI Symptom Checker is based on existent data, it was built by doctors, scientists; we take a healthcare community that was a part of building that and that is never to replace a doctor but information technology is to supercede Doctor Google," said Sihota.

Sihota explained that those who use the symptom checker can build a portfolio and have information technology in their profile. She added that if the checker notes that you demand to see a doctor, then B.C. residents will be directed to book an appointment with a specialist if they want.

B.C. residents volition be able to do a number of things with the app including booking an appointment, accessing doctor consultation notes, video consultations, managing prescriptions, pharmacy locations and getting referrals for specialists or tests.