Over 5,000 People Avail of COVIDMedBot COVID-19 Risk Assessment in Two Days
- 86% of the visitors to the Akkure website were first time visitors
- Free to use service providing personalised risk assessment and guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic
Within the first 2 days of the launch of the free COVID-19 ‘COVIDMedBot’, over 5,000 people visited the website to avail of the personal risk assessment. 86% of these were first time visitors to the site.
The COVIDMedBot has been developed by Akkure, an Irish digital health start-up based at NovaUCD. The free tool is available online and the self-assessment can be completed in 90 seconds.
To date, the assessment has been taken in almost equal proportions by men and women and by people in every county on the island of Ireland. It has also been taken by people in the UK, the rest of Europe, the USA and many other parts of the world.
The COVIDMedBot provides personalised risk assessment and guidelines, in line with the HSE recommendations and leveraging advice from the WHO and CDC, regarding the COVID-19 virus. The virtual service can be accessed by patients, GPs and hospitals.
Dr Oran Rigby, founder, Akkure said, “We are delighted that the self-assessment is something that has been used by some many people so quickly. The online assessment is free, crucially it can be taken many times as the risk evolves over time and takes only 2 or 3 minutes. We would encourage people to take the free assessment as often as they want, as more self-assessments will enrich the view and progression of COVID-19 providing insights to assist with surge planning and resource allocation.”
Dr Amy Hollingworth, co-founder and Chief Medical Officer, Akkure, added, “The HSE have done a very good job of encouraging everyone to isolate where possible. We fully support the guidelines and advice of the HSE in this time of crisis. The self-assessment we have developed will help to support both patients and the overburdened primary and public health public healthcare systems.”
The COVIDMedBot is dynamically updated based on an individual’s specific responses. The risk assessment can be repeated as many times as a user wants, facilitating sequential consults, which is critical in the rapidly evolving clinical situation.
Employers and employees who are anxious about the potential impact of the virus on their health can also use the COVIDMedBot to find out more about what help is available and the recommended next steps.
In addition to the COVIDMedBot, Akkure is releasing specialised MedBots which will be available to leading hospitals and medical practices. The MedBots will be tailored to their individual needs to assist with triaging patients and relieve the immense pressure on their organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
ENDS
27 March 2020
For further information contact Micéal Whelan, Communications and Media Relations Manager, NovaUCD, UCD Research and Innovation, t: + 353 1 716 3712 or e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie or Lily Mazurkiewicz, Akkure, e: partners@akkure.com.
Editors Notes
The Akkure team possess a fusion of expertise in the medical, information engineering and healthcare space, with their current focus on the treatment of respiratory illnesses, rare diseases and oncology. Most notably, their founder Dr Oran Rigby, a professor of robotics and autonomous systems, is also a consultant in intensive care medicine and surgery, whilst holding master’s degrees in disaster medicine, trauma surgery and orthopaedic medicine. Co-founder Dr Amy Hollingworth is a respiratory and lung transplant specialist, with a master’s degree in public health, focusing on pandemic influenza.
Akkure is based at NovaUCD, the Centre for New Ventures and Entrepreneurs at University College Dublin.