Isabel FAQs
1. How is Isabel different from other symptom checkers?
Isabel is built in a completely different way to other symptom checkers, utilizing sophisticated
Artificial Intelligence technology which searches over 6,000 disease presentations - many more than other
tools. Most importantly, Isabel can understand multiple symptoms entered in everyday language, all in
one go without going through a long list of questions. Other tools restrict the user to entering just one
single symptom, or force them to select common symptoms from a list or body map, severely limiting the user’s
ability to accurately describe their own problem.
2. Why should I trust the results from Isabel?
Isabel Symptom Checker is adapted from the Isabel Pro which has been used by doctors in
hospitals around the world for almost two decades and is widely recognised in the medical community as one of
the most accurate on the market. The tool has been professionally validated over many years with several
peer-reviewed articles appearing in medical journals.
3. Is Isabel better than ‘Dr Google’?
They are completely different tools so shouldn’t really be compared. Isabel is designed solely to understand
symptoms and search for medical conditions so will do a much better job at helping you to research, whereas
Google is a more generalised search tool which may give you hundreds of answers to your query.
4. Why should I bother with all this research rather than just going to see the doctor?
We understand that many patients, particularly when feeling worried and unwell, will not want to go through
this process. However, today’s doctors are increasingly time- pressured and may not be able to offer you an
appointment quickly. During your consultation, they will not always have the time to go through your case in
detail or, in some cases, the skills and knowledge to work out your condition, particularly if it’s rare or
your presentation is unusual. Doctors are only human and make mistakes like the rest of us, especially if what
you’re suffering from is unusual. You can considerably improve the chances of getting a correct diagnosis
first time if you are well informed before your visit and can present an accurate report to your doctor of
what you are experiencing and ask more relevant questions.
5. Do I still need to see a doctor after using Isabel?
Almost certainly yes. You should not use Isabel as a substitute for going to see your doctor but as a
tool to help you decide which type of doctor to see and make your consultation more productive with the aim of
reaching the correct diagnosis more quickly.
6. Why don’t you have an Apple or Android App?
Download us for free and you’ll see why: the Isabel website has been designed and built so that it
automatically fits and works on the screen of any device, from a desktop to mobile phone, so a separate App is
not necessary.
7. Why do you only allow 5 searches a day?
It is thanks to funding from our original founding charity, The Isabel Medical Charity, that we are
able to offer the Symptom Checker free for use by patients. However, we need continual funding to keep our
products constantly updated and at the forefront of medical technology and, therefore, need to charge
healthcare institutions to access our professional diagnostic tool. We introduced the daily limit on the
Isabel Symptom Checker to avoid regular use by healthcare institutions. If you require more searches
each day, you can register for a free account.
8. Will Isabel remain free to use?
Yes, for the foreseeable future.
9. Can Health Professionals use this tool?
No, it is designed for use by patients. Health Professionals should use our professional system available at
https://www.isabelhealthcare.com/
which covers disease presentations in much greater medical depth. It also has direct access to professional,
evidence-based, medical resources.
10. Why does Isabel show me so many conditions? Can’t you narrow it down?
There are very few symptoms which indicate just one single condition; almost all symptoms have many potential
causes. It is not possible or credible for a computer to give you the exact diagnosis or even narrow it down
to two or three. Isabel’s job is to match your symptoms to possible conditions so you can read up on
them and discuss with your doctor. A computer tool does an excellent job at giving you a shortlist but cannot
be relied on for the final definitive diagnosis.
11. Is the first condition in the list the most likely one?
No, the order of the conditions is by relevance or word match and does NOT indicate the degree of clinical
likelihood for you. You should review all the conditions rather than focussing too much on just the first
condition. You can also sort the results to highlight the ‘Common’ or ‘Red flag’ conditions.
12. Can I put my test results into Isabel?
Yes, you can include any positive test results (do not enter normal or negative results). However, you need to
enter what the result means in words and not numbers. For example, don’t enter: “blood pressure 160/100” but
instead enter “high blood pressure”.
13. How does putting in my age affect the results?
The results will reflect the prevalence of the conditions based on the age range you have entered.
14. If I’m transgender, which gender should I enter?
This will depend on the medication or surgery you have undertaken and what stage you are at if you are
undergoing gender reassignment. It may be best to run your symptoms in both genders and obtain a list which
you can then work up with your doctor depending on your own case history.
15. I might be pregnant but I’m not sure. Should I click the ‘Pregnancy’ button?
If you suspect you may be pregnant then select ‘Not specified’ and you will receive results taking into
consideration you may be pregnant.
16. What does the red flag next to a condition mean?
A red flag means a condition which should be treated as an emergency, so if you think this condition
accurately fits your symptoms, you should seek care immediately at the Emergency Room or make urgent contact
with your Family Physician.
17. If a condition has ‘Common’ next to it, what does this mean?
‘Common’ means this condition is seen in more than 50 per 100,000 of population. Statistically, anybody is
more likely to have one of the ‘common’ conditions, but this is a very crude indicator and what is more
important and clinically significant is how your symptoms fit with the descriptions you will find in the
knowledge resources.
18. If my doctor has given me a condition and I’ve developed some new symptoms, what should I do?
A condition often becomes clearer over time so enter your new pattern of symptoms and check the results. If
you feel the diagnosis you have been given by your doctor no longer fits then discuss this with your doctor.
However, do not make any changes to medication you may have been given without discussing with your doctor
first.
19. If I think I’ve picked up something from travelling in another country, what do I do?
You should then use the ‘Country’ function and select where you travelled from. The Symptom Checker will then
include diseases that are more prevalent in that region. This will be particularly useful for your doctor who
may be less familiar with tropical diseases.
20. If I’ve got a report from my doctor, can I enter everything he’s written, or do I have to list each symptom individually?
You can enter what has been written but you will get the best results if you enter each symptom on a separate
line.
21. If I want to find out more about a condition, what do I do?
Click on the condition and a knowledge page containing medical information resources will open for you to read
up on disease information.
22. Can I email my results to my doctor?
Yes, this is a very good idea and can be done using the share function button above the results. You can also
add your comments.
23. If I’m not sure how urgent my illness is, can Isabel help?
The ‘Where to get care’ triage function invites you to answer further questions about your problem. It will
then provide a recommendation on where to seek medical treatment: in the Emergency Room, with your Family
Practitioner or at a walk-in clinic facility.
24. Do you allow other institutions to use your symptom checker in their product?
Yes, we make our API available for a charge and encourage hospitals and health sites to integrate the Isabel
Symptom Checker into their systems. If you are interested to learn more, please visit
https://www.isabelhealthcare.com/products/symptom-checker.
If you have any questions that were not answered by the above, please send an email to:
scfeedback@isabelhealthcare.com