In times of the COVID-19 pandemic Sana Kliniken AG has introduced an interactive online symptom checker on its website to reduce face-to-face contacts between care givers and patients. It offers patients an initial assessment of their symptoms as well as access to verified medical information. With this triage tool Sana Kliniken AG, which is one of the largest private hospital chains in Germany, also wants to provide users with guidance when selecting suitable care facilities.

“With the Symptom Checker, we have the opportunity to interact directly with potential patients, respond to their needs and provide them with appropriate recommendations,” explains Michael Rosenstock, Head of Sana Digital. “These answers do not only consist of the results and recommendations, but the Symptom Checker also guides the user via further links to related articles and videos on the Sana website. Thus, the user can access the growing number of medical issues and content from our network of experts,” continues Rosenstock.

How the Symptom Checker works

Users need to initially answer a few general questions about their health status before they are shown an interactive graphic of the body. Here users must click or tap on the affected body regions and describe their existing complaints, e.g. headaches. Based on this selection, the Symptom Checker asks some more questions before providing a summary of the analysis. The latter lists the user’s details along with potential causes for the complaints and an initial assessment, whilst no personal data is transferred to the healthcare provider offering the Symptom Checker.

Improving care providers’ performance

In order to save time, unnecessary doctors’ visits, and scarce clinical resources, the Symptom Checker is constantly being verified by doctors and refined with the knowledge from over six million medical cases. In its current version it covers more than 1,200 symptoms and 600 diseases as well as thousands of interrelationships. "This medically and scientifically sound background was decisive for us when choosing the tool," explains Rosenstock. "In addition, the Symptom Checker convinces with a high degree of user-friendliness - despite complex data structures and algorithms in the background".

The solution is based on the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to assess symptoms and find patterns in data. Additionally, a team of physicians verifies information that is added to the medical database to ensure that patients get safe and reliable recommendations.

To learn more about Infermedica visit its virtual booth during the HIMSS & Health 2.0 European Digital Event that takes place September 7-11. Furthermore, you can join the session: 'AI Solutions for Providers' taking place during the event.