HealthTap is like WebMD except reputable

Dan Seitz Contributing Writer, Tech

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We all know WebMD advises you that you have cancer, no matter what your problem is. But if you’d like to hear from an actual doctor whenever you’ve got something funky going on, now you can actually do that for free.

HealthTap

HealthTap is an application that essentially lets you bounce a question off of doctors. Yes, real doctors, not just some guy with a medical encyclopedia in the basement. And shockingly enough, it’s actually fully functional and designed to respect your privacy.

You can send doctors images, scans, or just questions and get answers. When I tried the app out, the responses were often quick, detailed, and written in a direct way with very little medical jargon. That said, some of them were junk: the app needs some updates to help weed out the unhelpful ones who just say “go to your doctor’s office”.

Another nice touch is that the app allows you to store all your medical information on it for easy access. Immunization records, allergies, prescriptions…you can store it all on there. You can also find doctors, schedule appointments, and communicate with the doctor before you arrive, making life easier on everybody.

As for privacy, it’s controlled by HIPAA, a government law protecting your medical records.

Ultimately, HealthTap fulfills that promise of smartphones, making an annoying task a lot easier to do. With a little tweaking, it’ll be a great app. It’s on iOS and Android.

HealthTap [Play Store]