As a young mother, Manon Sauter faced the challenge of finding a doctor after her son fell off his bike. “He suffered a dental trauma and, even living in Montpellier, I spent over 24 hours with a baby, bleeding from the mouth and with a dislodged tooth, without anyone to see him,” she recounts.
She went to the emergency room. They told her it wasn't an emergency and that she needed to find a doctor, but none were available. Only dentists were available, but they informed her that they do not see children under 6 years old. "I realized the extent of the pediatric health issue in France,” explains Manon Sauter.
After some research, she discovered that 87% of French territory is considered a pediatric medical desert, and on average, a parent takes 3 weeks and 3 days to get an appointment to treat their child.
Armed with this knowledge, she created the Famille Santé app, which guides parents based on their child's symptoms to the most appropriate care pathway, taking into account their geographical situation.
In just a few clicks, users enter the child's age, whether they have a fever, and for how long. Simple questions that allow the algorithm to determine if the symptoms are alarming and to redirect directly to emergency services or the nearest hospital accordingly. Otherwise, the platform will arrange an instant teleconsultation with a pediatrician.
“Our goal is to ensure that from the moment there is a connection on the app, the responses to the questionnaire, and receiving the prescription in the child's medical file, less than 30 minutes have passed,” specifies Manon Sauter.
In 70% of cases, the issue is resolved through an online consultation, thanks to 20 doctors, 20 pediatricians, who take turns from Monday to Sunday, from 8 AM to 10 PM. This system is complemented by about ten specialists, including endocrinologists and cardiologists, who can continue care as needed.
If an in-person consultation is necessary, the pediatrician will redirect the patient to the optimal care pathway based on the child's symptoms, as close to home as possible, whether it's with a general practitioner, a pediatrician (when available in certain areas), a medical center, a pharmacy, or a laboratory, to ensure there is a proper follow-up.
“Making medicine and pediatrics accessible is a huge issue because today, we are working with territories of 150,000 inhabitants where there are only 10 general practitioners, and they are not even there all week. So medical presence is very complicated. And in pediatrics, it's non-existent. They don't have any in their territory,” explains Manon Sauter.
“And we especially wanted to provide reassurance to parents. We wanted to make life easier for everyone.”
