UK-based doctors app wins Facebook's Social Good App of the Year Award – and reaches 70k members in just 12 months
UK-based doctors app wins Facebook's Social Good App of the Year Award – and reaches 70k members in just 12 months
15 September 2016
- MedShr – the app for doctors – has secured a seven-figure investment round
- Cash injection will accelerate growth and expansion of the community
- Founded by consultant cardiologist Dr Asif Qasim in 2015, the app now has over 120,000 medical professionals as members in over 180 countries
MedShr, an app developed for doctors to securely share clinical cases with other verified medical colleagues, has today announced its 70,000th user on the platform. The app has even been used by doctors in European migrant camps for Syrian refugees, and recently won Facebook Start’s Social Good App of the Year Award.
MedShr was launched last September by Dr Asif Qasim, a renowned Interventional Cardiologist based in London working at Croydon and King's College Hospital, after seeing that doctors were keen to share information on cases to improve patient care, but were unable to do this securely. A recent study by researchers at Imperial College London showed that over 70% of junior doctors regularly discuss clinical cases using text, WhatsApp or social media in breach of information governance and GMC guidance. MedShr is a secure encrypted platform, and users can get patient consent easily within the app, right before the photograph is taken.
The app is being used across the world with users in the UK, Pakistan, India, US and is also seeing rapid growth in the Middle East and Asia, making up to 44% and 40% of new users respectively. The MedShr team has seen a surge in specialists and surgeons using the app in the last few months as a result of strategic social media marketing and strong organic growth generated by word of mouth. The number of doctors seeking second or specialist opinions from colleagues and peers around the world is also rising fast – whether this be in remote areas, refugee camps or in more traditional primary care and hospital settings.
Dr Asif Qasim, Founder and CEO, said:
“It’s incredible to see how doctors are using MedShr to discuss clinical cases, and are inviting their colleagues to join them. We've had brilliant feedback from doctors and medical students, with a particularly strong activity in cardiology and orthopaedics.”
“But the real medtech value is that patients benefit from better care - this leads to improved outcomes, and ultimately saves lives. With a number of international partnerships in the pipeline I'm confident that MedShr will have well over 100,000 members before the end of the year.”
CASE STUDIES: MedShr in practice
Scaffolder, Mark Garland (aged 32) from London, came to hospital with a fever and was feeling generally unwell. He had a small haemorrhage in his nail, and a sore tooth. The cardiologist, a user of MedShr, recognised these subtle signs of a rare but serious infection of a heart valve. The team scanned the heart and diagnosed infection on the aortic valve.
Mr Garland underwent emergency life-saving surgery to replace it. Mark gave consent to the doctor using the MedShr app to photograph the signs, and upload the case to the MedShr network to highlight this rare case to peers. The father of two is now fit and well and back at work. He said: “I was happy to help the doctors by sharing my story. It’s going to help other doctors treat patients like me, and that has to be a good thing”.
Skin lesions, Serbian Refugee Camp – Seeking advice from other doctors around the world
Dr Dejan Popovic, a GP working with refugees in Serbia, treated an 18 year-old refugee from Afghanistan with skin lesions. Popovic made a spot diagnosis and prescribed him a specific cream, and uploaded the case to MedShr to get a second opinion from specialists around the world.
The image was soon commented on by six fellow doctors, including a mix of other GPs and dermatologists, and they were able to confirm his diagnosis and treatment were the best possible in the circumstances.
[Clinical images available on request]
[ENDS]