Most people start by searching the internet for possible answers to help diagnose how they’re feeling or decide how serious a medical issue really is.   With typical web searches, there’s pages of links to go through, often with information that’s sometimes hard to understand and/or confusing.  A Symptom checker, on the other hand, is a tool that starts by gathering information from you and then uses computer programs (algorithms) to provide you with the top results corresponding to the information you provided.

It’s proven that doctors are more accurate at diagnosing than online symptom checkers.  They gather more information from you and have your history and the clinical experience to come up with a diagnosis correctly more of the time.  However, if are you are questioning whether to seek emergency care, researchers say symptom checkers can be helpful.

The National Institutes of Health and researchers from Harvard Medical School tested 23 symptom checkers and published their results in 2015.  They refer to symptom checkers as screening tools. Meaning, they are useful to someone trying to decide whether to see a doctor quickly or not, commonly called triage.

The study tells us symptom checkers are “roughly equivalent to telephone triage lines commonly used at primary care practices” and they are better then doing general Internet searches to self-diagnose.

When it comes to confirming a diagnosis, experts encourage us to print and take the information to share it in discussion with a doctor.

See more information below, in our Fast Facts section.

Symptom checkers are a guide.  They are not meant to give you a  final answer.  Experts agree on the following:

• Never ignore or delay getting professional medical advice based solely on information accessed through a symptom checker.
• Seek immediate medical assistance for all medical emergencies.