Scratchy throats are usually not strep; in fact, it is so uncommon that researchers are developing a do-it-yourself test to determine if a trip to the doctor is even warranted.

According to the Associated Press, an average of 12 million people per year visit their doctor to get tested for strep throat. Some doctors no longer perform the test after a rundown of various symptoms, hence the pre-visit test.

Strep is a contagious bacterial infection and its only real indicator for people who get is a scratchy throat. According to WebMD, other symptoms include fever, swollen tonsils and yellow spots on a bright red back of one's throat.

"If you could know that your risk was low enough that you wouldn't even be tested, you might actually save yourself a visit," said Dr. Andrew Fine, an emergency physician at Boston Children's Hospital.

With GPS and other technological advances available to the masses today, the researchers are developing an app-like tool to help people decide whether a soar throat is just that or something more serious.

It would work by taking a person's geographic location and telling them how many people in their area have strep throat, which increases one's risk. The other part of the test is a basic rundown of symptoms any doctor would conduct.

Fine and his colleague Dr. Kenneth Mandl, a Harvard professor and informatics specialist with Boston Children's, tested their method by assessing the risk of CVS MinuteClinic patients in six states from 2006 to 2008. They determined that their at-home test could save about 230,000 doctor visits per year, which can save many people time and money.

"The thing here is that what you want to know the most ... is do the people around you have strep throat," Mandl told Reuters. "The nice thing about strep throat is that complications are rare."

Dr. Robert Centor, credited with creating tools used by doctors to measure strep risk, wrote an editorial to accompany the study. He said the authors had a desirable goal, but did not think the execution would be as desired.

Dr. Edward Kaplan also wrote an editorial skeptical of the at-home test.

"It is totally unrealistic to think that real-time surveillance for group A streptococcus (bacteria that cause strep throat) is going to be carried out in any community," he told Reuters.

Still, Mandl believes the data could come from hospitals, doctors' offices and emergency departments to assess the prevalence. All the app developers would need is permission.

"The goal now is to validate the score prospectively - going forward - with real patients in a real clinical setting," he said, adding that the study is currently underway.