Going to the doctor can be a time consuming task for busy professionals, students and parents alike. The demand of today’s lifestyle makes it harder to visit a physician and many choose to simply not bother if the ailment is a common cold or an ear infection. That is why almost 60 percent of people look to the internet for health related advice in order can save the time and patience needed to go to a clinic. New start-ups are picking up on the valuable trend and have set out to show that mental health professions can the same level of service online with enough success to fund their venture. Such start-ups have given patients a growing number of options when it comes to telemedicine including the following:
Zipnosis lets people use its platform to diagnose common medical ailments. The Minnesota-based start-up conducts five minute interviews with patients in order to gather relevant data. The information is then sent to clinicians at Park Nicollet Health Services. The questionnaire is used as a basis to assign a diagnosis and an hour later the patient is sent an email or text message in order to log back into the Zipnosis portal and retrieve the clinician’s opinion. The innovative firm and service gives the user a personalized treatment plan, the nearest pharmacy and the ability to send the prescription electronically to said pharmacy electronically. The team charges 25$ for its services and thinks that its intelligent interview software sets it apart from other competitors.
Another start-up, MedClimate, has been created for clinicians rather tha patients. The tool helps these medical practitioners to connect with their patients through secure HD video conferencing. The elapsed video time is saved and an invoice is sent to the patient or the insurance company for payment. There is also an ePrescription feature from which the doctor can give the user a prescription. More capabilities include MedClimate’s cloud-syncing to keep patient records up to date and allows the extraction of data from any electronic medical record (EMR) system.
1DocWay was developed as a virtual doctors office and gives doctors and patients an opportunity to meet online. The HIPAA compliant platform only requires an internet connection and a webcam. The system is convenient and flexible and allows doctors a new revenue stream while giving patients a cheaper option without sacrificing the level of care. 1DocWay states that, “12 states have legislated mandatory reimbursement for telemedicine, and their service is free for patients but doctors and hospitals pay to subscribe.”
Breakthrough is another telemedicine start-up that focuses on high-quality psychiatric care. The platform allows users to search mental health professionals and select the ones they like. They can also search based on the specialty of the practitioner and insurance. Currently the service is only available in California but the team expects to expand the service to other states.
An interesting telemedicine firm is AbilTo which works on improving a patient’s mental and physical health. The aim is to help people through life’s gut check moments like a “diabetes diagnosis, depression, anxiety, or returning to work after a leave of absence.” The business does this by using TokBox video-chat software to put together a licensed therapist and behavioral coach with the patient.
As the many telemedicine options available online increase, it is sure to become a very competitive sector. However, for now the start-ups are working to increase their customer base and perfect their business model. We are sure innovative Canadian entrepreneurs are already developing similar start-ups to serve the shifting demographics of our society.
Source: BetaKit
Photo: BostInno
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