Common Q&A
What is NDC Medicine?
NDC Medicine is a web-based platform helping doctors diagnose medical mysteries using a smart discussion method combining AI techniques. We focus on hard-to-diagnose, complex cases that really challenge our way of thinking. Each case has a physician Moderator helping to obtain the right diagnosis quickly and accuretly. NDC Medicine also detects doctors who have a diagnostic talent and promotes them on the platform. NDC Medicine is open to M.Ds worldwide from all medical fields, allowing them to present patients of all ages with unusual symptoms, discuss the case with their peers, submit diagnostic suggestions, and helps with testing the best diagnostic suggestions in an expert medical center.
What does NDC mean?
NDC stands for Neglected Diseases Collaboration. We believe collective intelligence is the key to diagnose the most challenging cases. NDC Medicine peers discussing the case help gather diagnostic suggestions and pick the best ones for testing as a group, using AI techniques. NDC Medicine members cooporate in order to diagnose patients who are suspected of having a Neglected Disease. We include rare diseases and underdiagnosed diseases under the category of Neglected Diseases, illnesses that are usually neglected by our common method of diagnosing. Diseases that are well known in some parts of the world may be rare in other countries. They may be unrecognized for a long time, just like rare diseases. Therefore a collaboration between doctors worldwide is needed to shorten the patient's diagnostic period.
Who can use NDC Medicine?
To register into the NDC Medicine platform and diagnose case challenges you must have graduated from medical school with a valid M.D. diploma. To present a case, you need to be a licensed physician in your country of residence. In the registration process, doctors must fill their personal details and upload documents required for identification purposes in order to assure that they are in fact medical school graduates or physicians licensed to work in their country of residence.
Why should I join NDC Medicine?
For doctors interested in diagnosing their patient: Are you having trouble accurately diagnosing a patient for a long time? Have you tried different methods, treatments, and medications while nothing seems to be making your patient feel better? Have you sent them to several specialists and they found nothing? Then you have come to the right place. We offer a shorter and faster route to getting an accurate diagnosis in difficult-to-solve cases. Here you will find brilliant peers who want to solve challenging cases, a case moderator helping you throughout the diagnosing process, and a smart discussion method. Register now and post your case.
For doctors interested in solving case challenges: We focus on hard-to-diagnose, complex cases that really challenge our way of thinking. If you are intrigued by medical mysteries, if you are looking to develop your diagnosing skills, especially online, this is the place for you. Doctors who excel at diagnosing online are promoted by the platform as diagnosing talents, as we are looking to form a team of experts specializing in diagnosing neglected diseases that can offer their skills & services to patients. Up for a challenge? Join us now.
Do I need to pay for NDC Medicine membership?
Register now for free. Benefit now from early subscription. In it's 1st stage, NDC Medicine will be free of charge for physicians.
Our activity is based on using points that are called Coins. To understand how it works, read more about it in our points policy.
How would I know if my patient's case is suitable for NDC Medicine?
You can present patients with a difficult-to-diagnose case. If the patient suffers from unordinary symptoms or genetics, had multiple misdiagnosis, and endured a long diagnosing period- the case would be a good fit for NDC Medicine platform. Register now and post your case.
How is NDC Medicine different from other medical crowdsourcing platforms?
Firstly, we focus only on hard-to-diagnose, complex cases that really challenge our way of thinking.
Secondly, NDC Medicine defines an innovative, intelligent method for diagnosing complex medical cases:
♦ Smart Presentation: Using a Problem- Oriented approach, checking charts, and a moderator supervising each case we make sure the case is presented in a way that allows solving it quickly- from years, to days!
♦ Intelligent choice: Using AI to choose the best diagnostic suggestions between multiple options.
♦ Diagnosis Testing: The moderator aids with applying for testing in expert medical facilities specializing in exclusive medical fields.
♦ Diagnostic talent: Our point system allows tracing doctors who excel at diagnosing case challenges in the platform, and rewards them with higher ranking on the website. This rank will be crucial as NDC Medicine is forming a team of expert physicians specializing in diagnosing neglected diseases that can offer their services to patients both online and offline.
What is the problem NDC Medicine is solving?
The average time period for diagnosing rare diseases is significantly long compared to the standard diagnosing period for other diseases. A patient spends approximately 4.8 years, meets 7 different doctors, and receives 2-3 misdiagnosis until they get an accurate diagnosis. During that period, these patients are considered undiagnosed, medical mysteries. These are the case challenges we aim to tackle in NDC Medicine. Undiagnosed, rare and neglected diseases are a prominent problem in developed countries as well as in developing countries. While a specific rare disease affects a small percentage of the population, there are over 7000 different types of rare diseases, around 150 new types are discovered each year, with an estimated amount of 350 million rare disease patients worldwide. There are millions of patients that are still undiagnosed, and we want to shorten their diagnostic odyssey here in NDC Medicine.
Why am I required to privately suggest a diagnosis?
One of the main flaws of a public discussion is group pressure by the majority on a single participant. This type of pressure can neutralize it's most important virtue - a wide range of opinions and a possibility to reach a unique solution. This advantage is crucial especially in rare diagnostics, where the right solution can be suggested by only a few physicians. To prevent this phenomenon of group pressure, we were inspired by the Delphi Method that was developed for forecasting purposes (1959). It's most important principle is to keep your opinion secret from other discussion participant at the first deliberations round. This allows each participant to free their imagination, providing a wide range of diagnostic suggestions. However, for every good side there is a bad side. Too much freedom of mind can prompt suggestions that are far from reality. Accordingly, the next step of Delphi method and in our diagnosing process is revealing the list of diagnostic suggestions to the first peers that submitted each unique diagnostic. With the help of collective intelligence and AI techniques, the top possible diagnosis will be chosen for further testing.
Why should I use my real name as a user nickname?
Here at NDC Medicine we really appreciate the time and effort you put into diagnosing your patient, or help others reach a diagnosis. That is why NDC Medicine uses a point system that identifies active members that present and analyze cases successfully. These doctors will be chosen to become official members of the Neglected Diseases Collaboration, and will be promoted by the site as diagnosing experts. Patients worldwide seeking for a diagnosis in complex cases could hire the recommended services of a doctor in NDC Medicine's elite group.
What is NDC Medicine's goal?
Our goal is to help doctors diagnose patients with challenging cases worldwide, quickly and accurately. Our mission is to shorten the average time period for diagnosing rare/neglected diseases, from years to days. Thereby reducing the patient's health damage and increasing their longevity, while also saving the doctor's valuable time and energy.
What is NDC Medicine's vision?
Creating an international team of doctors specializing in diagnosing neglected diseases named Neglected Diseases Collaboration. They will excel at presenting, analyzing and diagnosing complex cases quickly and successfully. These experts could offer their skills & services to patients both online and offline.
Also, we aim to gather published solved cases into a data source that can help optimize and accelerate the diagnostic process online for future cases.
What if I didn't confirm any of the diagnoses I received on NDC Medicine?
In case the first diagnosis suggestion round doesn't have a clear result, please notify your case moderator. There will be an Onboard Discussion to help reach a final diagnosis. In this stage, the discussion will be closed only to peers invited by the presenting doctor. According to their decision, they can invite authors of the previous round's diagnostic suggestions, participants of the Q&A stage (primary discussion), specific doctors, or leave it open to everyone. Rules of this discussion round will be clarified by the case moderator upon starting the renewed case discussion.
Still didn't get the right diagnosis with NDC Medicine? Let us know! It is important for us to improve our diagnosing method.