How accurate are online symptom checkers?

Online symptom checkers have become a new normal in Healthcare. About 70% of users search health-related queries on the internet every day. However, there have been continuous debates on the reliability and accuracy of these checkers since their evolution. There are plenty of online checkers available in the market some provide reliable information while some do not. Not every tool is reliable and not all tools are inaccurate.

The accuracy of the best health symptom checker online depends upon the technology they are designed. AI-based symptom checkers like Drehf are more reliable. AI works comparably to a health practitioner gaining knowledge of medicine. A health practitioner learns about illnesses, their symptoms and builds memory. When the health practitioner takes an affected person’s records and examines them, they match the symptoms against their memory bank. Similarly, symptom checkers have their memory bank. If it has been built on poor and constrained data, the quality of diagnosis will be inaccurate and not reliable. DrEhf has the most comprehensive data set that is constantly reviewed by physicians and skilled professionals to maintain the accuracy of AIDO.

Doctors agree on the fact that online health checkers have been beneficial in many cases and have encouraging people to seek immediate help and thus saving a life. And made people more aware and concerned about their health than ever before.

However, one study claimed that doctors are twice as likely to make the accurate analysis as online tools. While these tools are beneficial in creating awareness about illness among patients and guide them to visit the doctors when appropriate we cannot ignore the fact that they can’t match the expertise and experience of a skilled professional at the same time.

Every coin has two sides so the symptom checkers. Use these tools for primary diagnosis but never ignore or delay seeking medical help for an emergency.