Health IT, Hospitals, Startups

This telemedicine company wants patients to build rapport with doctors

PlushCare from PlushCare on Vimeo. PlushCare, a San Francisco-based telemedicine company, is veering away from […]

PlushCare from PlushCare on Vimeo.

PlushCare, a San Francisco-based telemedicine company, is veering away from the trend set by rivals in a couple of ways. In a phone interview with co-founder and CEO Ryan McQuaid, he said PlushCare wants to encourage the kind of meaningful relationships that people have with their primary care physician. In another point of difference, its partnership with California School-based Health Alliance has created an initiative called #Care4Care. For each visit, PlushCare will help a child in need get access to vaccinations, a checkup or other required health services, according to a company statement.

McQuaid said it learned from its three-month beta test that patients are more comfortable when they can see the same physician — that makes them more confortable and more likely to reuse the service when they know who they’re talking to at the other side of the computer.

Although it is focused on the kinds of non-emergency conditions that tend to clog up some emergency rooms like flu symptoms and rashes, McQuaid said it’s interested in expanding into other areas such as chronic conditions, preventive medicine and eventually mental health.

PlushCare uses physicians trained at Stanford University and University of California at San Francisco medical schools and wants to continue a pratcice of working with physicians who have trained at the country’s top medical schools when it expands beyond California.

It’s also ambitious: by the end of next year, he wants its service to be available to 200 million people.

Here’s how it works. Users go online and “check in.” They can see how long the wait time is, but they can usually be seen that day. It charges $45 per visit. If patients need to get tested, for an STD for example, it has agreements with Lab Corp. and Quest Diagnostics. It can also arrange electronic presciptions to patients’ local pharmacies such as CVS, Walgreens, Safeway and Walmart.

McQuaid added that it also refers patients to in-person specialists if doctors determine that patients need it.

Update It’s secured funding from angel investors and Indiegogo. Among its investors are Jeff Clarke, the CEO of Kodak and who took online travel booker Orbitz.com public and Michael Baum, the CEO of FOUNDER.org and the founding CEO of Splunk, a big data company.

Update: This story has been updated after the company claimed a Form D filed in the company’s name did not reflect accurate funding information

 

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