New Platform Brings Care Directly to Individuals with Down Syndrome

A new online platform is bringing the expertise of clinics to patients, without the stress of families having to travel hundreds of miles to get specialized care for their loved one with Down syndrome.

Down Syndrome Clinic to You (DSC2U) was created by the clinical and research teams from the Down Syndrome Program and Lab of Computer Science at Massachusetts General Hospital, a not-for-profit academic hospital affiliated with Harvard Medical School. DSC2U is an online portal designed to connect families and primary care physicians with personalized health and wellness information for their loved one or patient with Down syndrome. Instead of asking families around the world to come to Boston, important health information can now be available to them in their own home on their own time.

The hospital worked closely with key stakeholders, including parents and caregivers of people with Down syndrome, representatives of Down syndrome advocacy organizations, primary care physicians, and national medical experts to develop the platform. The best part is, the service only costs $49, a fraction of what an in-person visit might cost when transportation and lodging costs are factored in if a family were to travel. It’s meant to be used in conjunction with a primary care physician.

The hospital’s website explains that they created DSC2U to, “bring the best of health and wellness information about Down syndrome to caregivers and primary care physicians around the globe. We believe that location and personal finances should never prevent someone from accessing the best and most timely medical information for a loved one with Down syndrome.”

To learn more about DSC2U, visit the Massachusetts General Hospital website.