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MedPlain — cholesterol results explained in plain language, with range bars and flags
Elevator pitch
Understand your lab results, in plain language. MedPlain turns a lab report full of jargon into clear per-line explanations — plus 3 questions to ask your doctor.
Inspiration
A friend received a lipid panel, saw "LDL 165" and "HDL 38", and had no idea what any of it meant — or what to ask at the follow-up. Lab portals hand patients numbers without understanding. The gap is not more data; it is translation. MedPlain closes it.
What it does
Paste a lab result or prescription, or tap a sample (CBC, Cholesterol / Lipid Panel, Blood Sugar HbA1c, Prescription). Every line becomes a card: your value vs the typical range, a visual range bar, a plain-language "What this means", and a flag. Unknown lines are skipped, never guessed. Then 3 questions for your doctor, generated from the flagged lines, with a copy button. A 12-term glossary explains jargon like HDL, LDL, and HbA1c in plain English. A print button produces a clean handout.
How we built it
Single-file HTML + CSS + vanilla JavaScript. Zero install, no backend. Demo mode runs on a built-in rule parser, so it works with no key. Live mode adds an optional Gemini key for AI explanations, with silent fallback to the rule parser on any error. Keys live in browser localStorage only.
Challenges we ran into
The hardest part was what NOT to say. A health explainer must never sound like a diagnosis, so every explanation uses "above/below the typical range — ask your doctor what it means for you" phrasing, and the app refuses to name conditions or recommend treatment. We verified this by scanning the whole file for diagnosis and treatment phrasing.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
A health tool that is genuinely useful and genuinely honest: patients leave understanding their numbers and knowing what to ask, without ever being told they have a condition.
What we learned
In health, clarity is a safety feature. Plain language is not dumbing down — it is the difference between a patient who can advocate for themselves and one who cannot.
What's next for MedPlain
More report types (imaging summaries, discharge notes), multilingual explanations, and a clinician-reviewed explanation library.
Built with
HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Google Gemini
Built With
- css
- google-gemini
- html
- javascript
