Overcrowded waiting rooms, long queuing times and treatment costs keep many people from going to the doctor when it’s actually needed. Healthcare access and inequity challenges have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic; members of at-risk populations around the world are increasingly delaying important specialist care. This is where Digital Diagnostics wants to make a difference.

The Current Problem With Healthcare

For many, visits to a specialist for a routine diagnostic exam represent a time-consuming and costly venture. As a result, many serious conditions go undiagnosed until they are advanced when treatment becomes more expensive and invasive, and outcomes are less favorable. It doesn’t have to be this way: People should not needlessly suffer from preventable diseases. For better health outcomes, early diagnosis and timely treatment are key for both patient and population outcomes. By providing medical diagnoses using autonomous artificial intelligence, Digital Diagnostics wants to make specialist care more accessible and affordable.

The Iowa based company, Digital Diagnostics was founded by Dr. Michael Abramoff. During his training to become an ophthalmologist and retina specialist, he saw that patients with diabetic retinopathy were coming to see him when the disease was already too advanced for them to receive optimal treatment. Given his background in machine learning, neuroscience and software development, Dr. Abramoff theorized that a computer might be able to help these patients get diagnosed at an earlier stage when effective treatment was still possible. He began to invent computer algorithms that could create a technology that mimics how clinicians like him make their diagnoses.

Early Diagnosis Improves Outcomes

Digital Diagnostics’ flagship product, IDx-DR, was the first autonomous AI system authorized by the FDA in any field of medicine; it diagnoses diabetic retinopathy and macular edema at the point of care. IDx-DR’s use in health systems has demonstrated that intelligent diagnostic platforms can be used safely, efficiently, and equitably to improve patient outcomes. Digital Diagnostics acquired 3Derm Systems in 2020, allowing expansion into dermatology and the advent of the first multi-specialty AI platform in the world.

Digital Diagnostics is committed to autonomous AI the right way: with an unwavering focus on improving patient outcomes, safety, efficacy and equity. The company has worked collaboratively within the healthcare and regulatory systems of multiple countries, including U.S. federal agencies, to accelerate the acceptance and adoption of ethical, evidence-based, autonomous AI.

Digital Diagnostics’ AI platform was created to work with the healthcare system, allowing for early detection of chronic conditions such as diabetic retinopathy, so that specialty providers can focus their time on sight-saving treatment for the patients that need them most. Digital Diagnostics is committed to improving the quality, accessibility, and affordability of medical diagnosis and treatment through autonomous artificial intelligence.