South African medical journal = Suid-Afrikaanse tydskrif vir geneeskunde
-
In the context of a shortage of medical specialists, a medical referral app, designed for use on smartphones, was launched in 2014 for use by doctors in the public health service in South Africa. ⋯ This study documents the scale-up of a mobile phone consultation and referral app from pilot phase to significant growth in use across a resource-constrained healthcare system. In a large proportion of cases, advice was given to the referring doctor by means of the app, frequently obviating the need for a specialist appointment or patient transfer. This finding demonstrates that a mobile app has the potential to reduce the need for face-to-face specialist visits, thereby improving the use of scarce medical resources.