Patrick Spain co-founded Hoover’s in 1990 to “democratize company information.” He wants to do something similar with healthcare using a telehealth platform for his new venture, First Stop Health. The idea is to improve access to physicians while reducing unnecessary visits to the doctor by having physicians answer queries for non emergencies by phone.
The company, started in 2011, is designed to respond to a couple of trends in healthcare — the shifting cost burden from employers to patients and the physician shortage.
The telephone tends to get overshadowed by text messages, email and video conferencing, but the company sees it as a useful way to resolve medical queries efficiently for company employees and consumers. It does offer a video conferencing service if, say, you had a rash or sore that you wanted to get checked to help decide whether you should see a dermatologist. But that has to be booked two days in advance. Response time for a phone call, on the other hand, is within two minutes of customers dialing the service.
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Spain said that in his prep for developing the business he discovered several companies offered some form of telehealth but it was greatly underused. He thinks his company can change that. By getting rapid service 24/7, users can get the satisfaction of checking in with a physician and asking for guidance on medical problems. Most users won’t get the same doctor unless they live in a state with few doctors in First Stop’s network. “People value speed over continuity,” Spain said. “We are not a substitute for a primary care practice — we are a supplement.”
First Stop employs physicians in all 50 states so the cross-border certification issue that tends to come up with telehealth isn’t a problem here. The company has a database of the licensed physicians in its pool that users can check.
Emphasizing the convenience factor, Spain said First Stop doctors can renew prescription medications or order more needles for diabetics if they’re on vacation and they left them at home. It stays away from prescribing new meds.
It has targeted employers with staff numbers from 50 to 2,000. Companies with self-funded plans make up 40 percent of its base, but it is working to grow that to 60 percent. Consumers can pay a monthly subscription fee.
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In addition to telehealth, it also provides an advocacy service for medical billing and for treatment, during business hours. “Out-of-network bills can be huge,” said Spain. “That’s where we can be really helpful.” As an example, he refers to a case in which a motorist with a broken leg was airlifted to a hospital — an out-of-network service the patient didn’t request and for which the patient received a big medical bill. The patient asked the company to intervene and it successfully argued that an ambulance would have been faster and less costly.
Although he acknowledges that there are a fair few companies in this market already, such as HealthTap and Teladoc, Spain sees the telehealth market as a greenfield opportunity. As the healthcare cost burden shifts from employers to employees, people will want to do more to avoid unnecessary costs. There will be a wider demand for services like the ones First Stop can offer.
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