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Surprising Science —

Got Acne? Believe It or Not, There’s an App for That.

Spruce is a new iPhone app helps you secure prescription drugs to treat acne. It’s just another in a long line of telemedical advances coming soon to your device.

The promotional video for Spruce, a new iPhone app released today, features a twenty-something woman unhappy with her acne. She opens up the app, uploads photos of her face, and receives a personalized treatment plan without ever having to enter a doctor’s office. 

As Wired’s Kyle Vanhemert notes, Spruce’s unique approach to telemedicine is to do one particular thing better than the rest. In this case, acne — an affliction not going away anytime soon. Upon uploading photos, Spruce users receive a response from a board certified dermatologist within 24 hours. You can even get a prescription filled at the pharmacy of your choice.

It’s all quite brilliant. If you’re going to get into a burgeoning industry like smartphone apps, and you’re focused on providing a medical service, it’s best to deal with something relevant to your most tapped-in audience: young people.

Check out the video below to learn more about how the app works. You can also read more at Wired, where Vanhemert goes into detail about Spruce’s founder and telemedicine as a whole.

Top photo credit: Accord / Shutterstock

Bottom photo and video: Spruce

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