Local doctors team with relative to create new instant message app

    POCATELLO — More than a year ago, local Dr. Fahim Rahim was looking for a better way to serve his patients, a method using the latest technologies that would allow him to more quickly respond to their needs without incurring the costs of an office visit or a trip to an urgent care facility.

    “Almost 45 percent of the visits to urgent care or emergency rooms are avoidable if there is effective communication or a timely communication between patients and their physicians,” Rahim said. “The average ER visit costs anywhere from $2,500 to $3,000, and for patients who are suffering from chronic kidney disease it can be much more staggering, $8,000 to $10,000.”

    The office visit can be $100 to $200 or more depending on the specialty of the physician, he added. While those with insurance see a large portion of that cost paid for, there is still a co-pay the patient is responsible for of anywhere from $10 to $30 on average, Rahim said. Visiting the doctor weekly at $30 a visit for the co-pay can add up quickly.

    But his search for that vehicle, a method to better serve his patients, simply didn’t return the results Rahim was looking for. That’s when he and his brother, Dr. Naeem Rahim, started looking at the possibility of developing a system using software that could do what they wanted.

    With the help of a family member, Ali Khan, currently working on a degree in electrical engineering with a minor in computer sciences at Idaho State University, they have created, developed and are now using that system.

    IMYourDOC went online a little more than two weeks ago and the doctors currently have nine patients testing the new application, which has been developed for mobile devices using the Android and iOS systems.

    “It stands for instant message your doctor,” Rahim said. “It’s a HIPPA and HITECH compliant, secure platform where patients and physicians can communicate effectively.”

    Where this service is going to be especially important, Rahim said, is for the 133 million people in the U.S. who are said to suffer some kind of chronic illness or medical condition. Those patients are the ones who can often need frequent contact with their physician because of changes in their condition or regular monitoring of their condition.

    With IMYourDOC, a patient who is connecting directly with his own physician, can get a response, typically within 10 to 30 minutes, from someone who is familiar with their condition, eliminating the uncertainty found with an on-call physician.

    “A lot of times the on-call physician will take the safest route, which is to have the patient go to the emergency room or urgent care,” Rahim said. “If I get a call from a patient that is having some kind of acute symptom and I do not know what the patient’s past history is, then I will guide them to the emergency room.”

    The use of the IMYourDOC system, he points out, means the patient is talking to his or her physician, who is familiar with the patient’s condition and can also access that patient’s records, meaning it is far less likely that patient will be making a trip to the ER, or even to the physician’s office.

    “I can say, let’s do this, and let’s reconnect tomorrow,” Rahim said. “Our goal is to show we can have better communication with patients, which can effectively reduce ER visits.”

    At $39 a month for five interactions with the physicians, some patients would be paying a little more for the service than the co-pay for a single visit. But because the system is one that also has the potential to save insurance providers significant money, Rahim is hopeful they will one day consider including the cost of IMYourDOC within the coverage they provide.

    They also have the physician covered in the equation as $20 of that monthly fee is paid to that doctor. Information about the system can be found at their website, imyourdoc.com.

    Within their own practice at the Idaho Kidney Institute, the Rahims are focusing on two types of patients within the nine who are currently using IMYourDOC. They include some who have recently received transplants and others with fairly advanced kidney disease.

    “We have seen very effectively that I have been able to reduce some of the patients’ need to come and see me every week,” Rahim said.

    Still in its early stages, the next step for IMYourDOC is to begin approaching providers, focusing on specific groups, the most severe of those with chronic conditions.

    “I would provide this service regardless,” Rahim said of the communication he maintains with patients outside of office visits. “But now the physician is able to provide the service in a more effective manner and getting paid for it.”