About the app
Who is Helix Anesthesia for?
Anesthesia providers — CRNAs, anesthesiologists, AAs, anesthesia residents and fellows, SRNAs and AA students, and MD/DO students on anesthesia rotations. The reference content is calibrated for the anesthesia workflow, not generic medicine.
Is it a substitute for clinical judgment?
No. Helix Anesthesia is a reference tool. Always verify against institutional protocol, current package inserts, and patient-specific factors. Every clinical screen carries a 'reference only' banner.
Who built it?
Anastasia Jackson, DNAP, CRNA, in Tulsa, OK. Every screen is shaped by real OR workflow.
Is it FDA-regulated?
Helix Anesthesia is a clinical reference / decision-support tool, not a regulated medical device. It does not control therapy, diagnose patients, or replace prescriber judgment.
AI chat
What model powers the AI chat?
Anthropic Claude. Specifically Claude Haiku 4.5, tuned with an anesthesia-specific system prompt. We may upgrade to newer models as they become available.
Does the AI remember previous questions?
Yes — within a session, the AI sees your last 20 messages so follow-ups have context. When you start a new app session, your previous conversation gets archived (read-only) and a new one starts fresh.
What happens if I include patient information in a question?
Our PHI detector flags names, MRNs, dates of birth, addresses, phone numbers, and emails before the question is sent. High-confidence matches are blocked entirely. Lower-confidence matches show a warning so you can rephrase.
Are my conversations stored on your servers?
Conversation content is stored only on your phone's local storage. Our servers store usage counts (how many queries you've used this month) and aggregated analytics — but not the text of your questions or the AI's answers.
What if the AI gives a wrong answer?
Verify everything against primary references. The AI is well-calibrated for common anesthesia questions but is not infallible. Clinical decisions are yours; the app's role is to give you a fast starting point.
Pricing & subscriptions
Can I cancel anytime?
Yes. Cancel from the app or your Google Play / App Store subscription settings. Access continues through the end of your paid period.
What happens after the 7-day free trial?
You're charged the plan rate (annual or monthly, whichever you picked) and continue automatically. Cancel before day 7 and you'll never be charged.
Why is annual cheaper?
Lower payment processing fees and lower churn. We pass the savings on — annual is roughly 17% cheaper than 12 months of monthly billing.
What counts as an AI query?
One question sent to the AI chat = one query. Reference lookups, calculators, crisis checklists, and everything else are unlimited on every plan including Free.
Do unused queries roll over?
No — quota resets monthly. If you're consistently bumping the limit, the Standard plan's 500/month is rarely exceeded by any single provider.
Student verification
How does student verification work?
Enter your .edu email, school name, program (SRNA, anesthesia resident, MD student, etc.), and graduation date. We email a 6-digit code; enter it to activate. Verification stays valid until your graduation date.
What schools are eligible?
Any accredited school that issues .edu emails. We don't maintain a per-school approval list — if you have a valid .edu email and you're in a qualifying program, you qualify.
Can I keep student pricing after graduation?
No — pricing auto-converts to Standard ($14.99/mo or $149.99/yr) at your stated graduation date. You can update your graduation date if you're still enrolled.
What if I don't have a .edu email?
Some international and some non-traditional programs don't issue .edu addresses. Email hello@helixanesthesia.com with your enrollment letter and we'll verify manually.
Privacy & security
Do you collect PHI?
No. Helix Anesthesia is not designed to ingest or store PHI. The PHI detector blocks identifiers in AI chat input. Reference lookups, calculators, and crisis checklists never receive patient data.
Is the app HIPAA-covered?
Helix Anesthesia itself is a clinician-facing reference tool, not a covered entity or business associate. We don't enter into BAAs because we don't process PHI on your behalf.
What data do you collect?
Account info (email, profile), subscription status, AI query counts, app event analytics (which screens are tapped — never the contents of those screens). Full details in our Privacy Policy.
Where is my data stored?
On Supabase (US region) for account and subscription data. Conversation content stays only on your phone. Our cloud infrastructure does not have access to question or answer text.
Devices & access
What devices are supported?
Android 7.0 and newer via Google Play. iOS coming soon — sign up at the bottom of any page to be notified when iOS launches.
Does it work offline?
Reference content (drugs, calculators, crisis checklists, blocks, glossary) works offline once the app is installed. AI chat requires an internet connection.
Can I use the same account on multiple devices?
Yes. Sign in with the same email on each device. Subscription and AI quota are tied to your account, not the device.