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'Medical Detectives' Look To Help Frustrated Patients Solve Conditions That May Puzzle Doctors

DETROIT (WWJ) -- Have you ever gone from doctor to doctor and your medical problem still hasn't been resolved? Maybe you need a "medical detective."

Over 10,000 retired doctors, medical students and lay people from around the world are volunteering their time online at a website called Crowdmed. Their goal is to share their knowledge and crack tough medical mysteries.

CrowdMed CEO Jared Heyman spoke with WWJ Newsradio 950's Dr. Deanna Lites about the turnout the program has already gotten.

"We've had over 500 difficult medical cases resolved on our website thanks to our medical detective community," Heyman said.

Heyman created CrowdMed after his younger sister Carly fell ill with mysterious and worrisome symptoms that baffled top doctors in Denver.

CrowdMed is harnessing "the wisdom of crowds" to help solve the world's most difficult medical cases quickly and accurately.

On CrowdMed, a patient with an undiagnosed medical condition can post his or her case and CrowdMed's community of 'Medical Detectives' collaborate on solving it -- using a patented prediction market system that collects their "bets" on the most likely diagnoses and solutions.

The service released some of its figures, claiming that medical detectives have solved 460+ cases in months instead of years, cost a few hundred dollars (instead of $100,000+) and are 300x cheaper and 50x faster than the traditional medical system.

 

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