Screen Shot 2014-08-26 at 1.21.24 PMFinding the right doctor takes time, research, and sometimes trial and error. But how much error are you willing to risk when it comes to your health? And how many friends do you have to call before you find one with a dentist or psychiatrist they recommend? Not to mention the endless phone trees and painfully long smooth jazz holds once you do find the perfect doc.Doctory, a new iPhone app, solves those problems by making doctor hunting and appointment scheduling simple, efficient, and most importantly, painless.

Users sign up with their location and insurance plan to find doctors in every field from pediatrics to naturopathic medicine in their region. Users first enters their location, insurance plan, preferred gender of the doctor, and the type of doctor they are looking for. A list of doctor profiles with matching criteria is then generated. Each doctor profile includes education, languages spoken, and recommendations and tags from previous patients.

Screen Shot 2014-08-26 at 1.22.07 PMThose recommendations and tags are what set it apart from your typical Google search or Yelp review. Patients can endorse or “tag” specific qualities such as “Experienced,” “LGBTQ friendly,” and even “Near public transportation.” This feature creates a reliable and user-friendly system that really helps when searching for the right doctor.

Then, with the click of a button, Doctory hooks you up with a visit. Once you request an appointment on the doctor’s profile and enter your availability, the Doctory team promptly takes care of the scheduling for you. Once your appointment is booked, the information for your upcoming appointment appears on your main screen in the app.

Another awesome feature of Doctory is the ability to schedule and keep track of your family members’ appointments in addition to your own. By creating additional profiles on the app for your kid, your partner, your grandfather, or other family members, you can plan and organize your whole family’s medical visits from your phone. This feature spares you the messy family calendars and refrigerator notes if you’re responsible for the health of those you live with.

For people who only see a doctor for a yearly checkup, Doctory may not be the most useful app. While it’s a great way to find doctors in your area and schedule appointments quickly, it may just be quicker to pick up the phone and call the doctor you already know and love, if it’s something you only do once a year.

If there’s one drawback to Doctory, it’s the lack of a confirmation system. It would be helpful if, once an appointment is reserved by the app, the user could accept or reject the appointment before it’s set in stone. Another limitation, which is due to the newness of the app, is the limited number of tags and recommendations available on doctor profiles.

Overall, Doctory makes finding doctors, scheduling appointments, and organizing your medical-visit history from your phone easier than ever. Whether you’re a parent with three kids who break bones and catch bugs every other month, or you just don’t have enough time in your day to be put on hold for ten minutes, you should definitely check Doctory out.

Doctory is available for free from the iOS App Store.

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