Potion Owl

Abstract

1.1  Definition
Healthcare is the maintenance or improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments.  Healthcare is delivered by health professionals (providers or practitioners) in allied health fields which means they are providing a service; hence Healthcare Services.

1.2  Misconceptions
Potion Owl is often termed an Electronic Health Records (EHR) or Electronic Medical Records (EMR) system - we are not. Potion Owl is a healthcare services platform that embraces P2P in its own sense by allowing both consumers (patients) and healthcare providers to have access to our services in ways that are focused on both parties. A standard Electronic Health Records system is “doctor-facing” meaning it caters to the doctors first then considers the patient afterwards.  Potion Owl reverses this approach by asking questions that are “consumer (patient) facing”:
If you’re feeling unwell, what healthcare provider do you contact?
Will they be available?
Will they be able to locate your file?
If this is a different provider, will you be able to provide information about past visits to other healthcare providers?
If you would like a second opinion, do you have enough detail after your visit with the healthcare provider of your choice?
If you are in another country or foreign location, will the task be more daunting? Particularly if you are prescribed medication?
In essence, Potion Owl’s platform focuses on the consumer (patient) but also provides tools for healthcare providers by implementing an ecosystem.

1.3   Ethos
Potion Owl’s aim is to make healthcare services accessible - anytime, anywhere.

1.4 The Back Story
They say “Necessity is the mother of all invention”. Rocked by the death of a colleague whose symptoms had originally been diagnosed as chronic migraine instead of brain tumor. Potion Owl was started as a personal project in 2014 to aid individuals with getting a second opinion on symptoms they were constantly experiencing as well as provide an avenue for healthcare providers to make more accurate diagnoses by consulting statistical data they had gathered through the EMR section of the ecosystem.

1.5  Overview
Potion Owl is a healthcare services platform originally built with PHP, Python and JavaScript. The company is headquartered in Kingston, Jamaica with rapid expansion plans for the region and onwards. (See token distribution map)
Though primarily considered a healthcare services platform that supports the entire ecosystem: Consumers (patients), Healthcare Providers and Services Providers; As of January 2017, Potion Owl has captured majority share of the Electronic Health Records (EHR) market within its founding country’s major cities. These are also primary tourist destinations which translates to easier access to healthcare for visitors from other countries.