eHealthMe Personalized Symptom Checker First Web Application to Identify Conditions Caused by Drugs

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Sept. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- eHealthMe, the real-world platform for healthcare big data, has rolled out a free Personalized Symptom Checker that compares patient symptoms with more than 40 million drug outcomes to determine whether ailments are most likely caused by disease or drug side effects. The Personalized Symptom Checker is the world's first cloud-based application that can help doctors, researchers and patients make this distinction.

"Plenty of websites let a patient enter symptoms and see a list of potential illnesses," said Johnson Chen, founder and CEO of eHealthMe. "However, this can mislead patients who are actually suffering because of medication side effects or drug interactions. Before or even after patients consult a doctor, they can use Symptom Checker to make sure that their treatment plan addresses the root of the problem."

On the eHealthMe homepage, visitors simply click "Check Symptoms" and then enter their patient information, medication regimen and symptoms to generate a personalized study. The website uses comprehensive scroll down menus to ensure that patients enter drug names and symptoms that correspond with those used by the FDA.

The results derived from Symptom Checker are robust and actionable. For instance, a male aged 76 suffering from muscle twitching would learn that the cause is most likely the ibuprofen he has taken regularly for 5 to 10 years rather than a new medical condition. Similarly, a 60 year old female would discover that the hoarseness of her voice is probably due to the Taxol she takes for a liver condition.

To try the new Symptom Checker, visit www.ehealthme.com/symptom_checker

About eHealthMe
eHealthMe is a platform to study healthcare big data in real world and in real time. The company's proprietary algorithms continuously analyze FDA and social media data. The results are readily available to health care professionals and consumers. eHealthMe aims to make America's healthcare system more transparent, safe, and cost effective. eHealthMe has worked with top institutions and organizations, including the Mayo Clinic, Northwestern University, IBM, Yahoo!, and the London Health Science Center. Based in Mountain View, CA, eHealthMe is a privately owned, independent company.

SOURCE eHealthMe