Introducing Buoy Health

In 2013, one of my best friends, Andrew Le, started a company with three others –  Adam Lathram, Nathanael Ren, and Eddie Reyes – seeking to revolutionize the healthcare industry, specifically how people used the internet to self-diagnose. In 2015, they landed on the name Buoy. Their goal was simple, really – to build a healthcare companion that provides people more reliable, tailored information than what was currently available on the internet (for example, WebMD). What it does is very much like texting a real doctor: after telling it what’s going on, Buoy’s algorithm automatically asks you twenty questions to figure out what diagnoses are most likely and what to do about it (stay at home, see a doctor, etc). If needed, Buoy can even connect you with doctors nearby.

The brains behind the program are a team of computer scientists and doctors, working out of the Harvard Innovation Laboratory in Cambridge, MA. They teamed up with faculty from the Harvard schools of medicine and engineering to harness artificial intelligence for the health of every person in the world. So in other words, a bunch of pretty smart people.

I not-so-secretly think that Andrew was really motivated to start Buoy as a result of the number of times I texted him saying, “Isla has this, that or the other, and I searched online and it said that it’s just XYZ – what do you think?” But in all seriousness, Buoy is such a relief as a parent, because our concerns for our kids safety far surpass our own.

In our many conversations about the company over the past three years, I asked Andrew, “Why would I, or any other parent, use Buoy over just going to my child’s pediatrician immediately?” He and the other founders at Buoy know that the decision to go to the doctor is a tough and scary one for parents. On the one hand, you don’t want to bother them, but on the other, it’s your child. Programs like Buoy are not meant to replace a doctor’s visit. Rather, it’s supposed to help you with this decision-making process by using advanced artificial intelligence. So, instead of using Google and seeing potentially fear-inducing diagnoses, I recommend using Buoy’s clinically-tested program to get you on the right path to peace-of-mind.

And, the best part, is that Buoy is completely free. Plus, it’s easy to use.

You can get the app on your iPhone by searching “Buoy Health” in the App Store (or click here), or you can access Buoy’s program on a desktop. It’s definitely worth downloading and registering now before you or your loved ones are sick!

You can learn more about Buoy (and put faces to the aforementioned names) by watching this short video:

Connect with Buoy on Facebook and Twitter

I was not compensated for this post. I just love to share products that I believe in! Thank you for helping to support these companies!