Akkure, an Irish Digital Health Start-up, Launches ‘COVIDMedBot’
- Free to use service providing personalised risk assessment and guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic
- The virtual service can be accessed by patients, GPs and hospitals
Akkure, an Irish digital health start-up, has launched the ‘COVIDMedBot’, an online personalised risk assessment and guideline tool for use during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Akkure is based at NovaUCD, the Centre for New Ventures and Entrepreneurs at University College Dublin.
Free to use, the COVIDMedBot provides personalised risk assessment and guidelines, in line with the HSE recommendations and leveraging advice from the WHO and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), regarding the COVID-19 virus.
The tool is available online and the assessment can be completed in 90 seconds.
The public can turn to the COVIDMedBot for the latest individualised advice on the evolving COVID-19 pandemic, enabling quick risk assessment in an uncertain environment. 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.
Founder of Akkure, Professor Oran Rigby MD said, “Our COVIDMedBot offers an efficient and reliable service benefiting the public, corporate sector, and Irish governing bodies during this high strain period for the health service. The COVIDMedBot’s data is based on the latest scientifically validated information from the HSE, the CDC and the WHO, along with doctors and medical experts at St. Vincent’s University Hospital.”
“We are confident the service will put users in a better position to handle the current situation whilst alleviating the HSE of a significant amount of pressure.”
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.
Professor Rigby MD added, “As we know, the Irish Health system is currently under immense pressure. Understandably, this is a cause for worry and confusion. Rather than overwhelming GP practices in this time of crisis, the COVID MedBot can act as the first port of call by allowing patients to gauge their personal risk, and crucially, what actions they can take based on their individualised risk assessment.”
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 organisations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
ENDS
20 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.