Two telemedicine startups are working together on a program that allows worried patients to text their concerns about the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, to a chatbot that can link them to remote doctors. The texting portion of the program is a little clunky, but the whole program, from initial text to doctor’s consultation, is free of charge. The COVID-19 chatbot is being offered through several healthcare systems, Sevak says, but even people who are uninsured can directly dial in the number. On March 6th, President Trump signed an $8.3 billion coronavirus response bill that included more relaxed reimbursement protocols for Medicare patients using telemedicine. "The fundamental aim of telemedicine is to provide care to anyone, anywhere that needs it," Dorsey says, "Hopefully we'll take lessons from this.”To ask the chatbot questions about COVID-19, text “COVID” to +1-623-428-0201.

Source: Forbes March 12, 2020 21:10 UTC