05: How To Develop An App Which Helps You Think Like An Expert Doctor With Dr Lorin Gresser

15 Minutes With The Doctor: Learn from Healthcare Entrepreneurs and Innovators

Today, we have Dr Lorin Gresser, who is the creator of DEM Dx, a medical education app. The app teaches diagnostic skills by utilising the approach taken by experts in medicine. Learn how Lorin has integrated the process of decision making in medicine into an educational app, her approach to validate the app, and how she built a team of expert physician contributors. What you will learn in this episode: - What is the DEM Dx app and why is it important? - Decision Making in Medicine and DEM Dx - The success of the DEM Dx app & validation - Keeping the app up-to-date - Entrepreneurial lessons Dr Gresser learned throughout her career What is the DEM Dx app and why is it important? Doctors are taught about diseases and their symptoms, but the real world works in reverse, where symptoms appear first and a doctor must make decisions to arrive at a conclusion. The DEM Dx app utilises the thought processes of expert doctors through decision trees. Decision Making in Medicine and DEM Dx The app ensures that you aren't skipping steps or narrowing the decision making funnel too quickly. For example, the natural bias for chest pain is something heart related, but chest pain may also come from multiple other causes. The success of the DEM Dx app & validation Dr Gressler won a Woman of Innovation in 2016 award from Innovate UK. She is using those funds to run a study to see how DEM Dx changes decision making behaviours and to validate how effective the app is – This is something that is not done typically in the mobile app field. They are close to 20 000 downloads in the last 5 months, with only a limited amount of marketing. Dr Gresser is continuing to find ways to make the app useful and make sure people use it as part of their daily or weekly habits. It has spread very well through word-of-mouth between physicians and students. Keeping the app up-to-date As an app, they'll be able to push out updates as they go. For example, they could add images or audio files demonstrating heart murmurs. The app does not require the latest guidelines as it is focused on the thought process behind making decisions and diagnosis in medical care. Entrepreneurial lessons Dr Gresser learned throughout her career In business, you're expected to fail, and it's okay to fail, because those failures can lead you to the successful projects or provide skills to apply to those other projects. It's also helpful to have a network of other entrepreneurs to get advice and support. Find out more about DEM Dx at www.demdx.com. You can download the DEM Dx app on the Apple app store and contact DEM Dx by sending an email through the website.