It always sucks being sick, but it really sucks when you’re sick and away from home. What do you do if you need a doctor or medical help away from home? Thanks to technology, apps and services built to answer this question have been popping up for some time now. I’ve written about the Heal app, which is mostly in California, and Baby Doctor in NYC. Both can help travelers and residents find and see a doctor in their selected destination.
Another option: Allianz, with which I have an annual travel insurance plan and for which I am a brand ambassador) has a great app that can also help in a health emergency: TravelSmart.
Well, there’s now another such service that you can use to find a doctor worldwide. It’s called Air Doctor. With Air Doctor, vacationers and business travelers who fall ill in one of the 39+ countries listed here can schedule doctor appointments through a free app for iOS and Android and receive service from a private, pre-screened practitioner in their native language.
Doctors are paid directly by Air Doctor, so users never need to leave cash, find an ATM, or hand over a credit card to doctors they see. Air Doctor also offers a telemedicine service that allows customers to have initial consultations with doctors familiar with their local languages, cultures and medical systems. As for specific prices: I just searched for a doctor in my area and found a video conference offered for $38. There were multiple doctors available to do “house calls,” meanwhile, and they ranged from $72 to $600.
More on Air Doctor
According to the website, all of Air Doctor’s partnering doctors are “licensed trusted professionals who are qualified to treat you. Before scheduling an appointment, you have the ability to see all of a doctor’s information including professional background, spoken languages, other patients’ reviews and much more all in a beautifully designed app.”
In a recent press release, Jenny Cohen Derfler, CEO of Air Doctor, added this: “By opening our convenient smartphone application, anyone can have instant access to a list of local physicians who have been screened and are approved to serve traveler needs.. Saving travelers from unnecessary stress, they can use the application to set an appointment for a visit in a private clinic or even their hotel room.”
