The trend towards more specialized telemedicine companies is especially true for behavioral health and dermatology specialties. PocketDerm, founded by a couple of dermatologists to reduce the wait time to see a dermatologist, and to make those visits easier, has raised more than $2.85 million from one investor, according to a Form D filing with the SEC. The fundraise follows a recent expansion of its e-prescription service to add anti-aging treatments in September.
In a media interview, CEO and co-founder Dr. David Lortscher said the company would initially treat people with mild or moderate acne. Patients register for the service and pay $30 per month for medication and follow-up care. They send a high definition selfie and provide a medical history. Lortscher told NBC San Diego that this information is enough to make a diagnosis online or on the phone.
One big difference between PocketDerm compared with companies with e-prescription services is that it prescribes medication that it makes in its offices.
All PocketDerm medications are custom-made using equipment at its San Diego office, according to its website. For people seeking manufactured topical meds like Retin-A, it suggests they find a board-certified dermatologist.
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The company’s dermatologists also participated in a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” session in the “skincare addiction” section. Lortscher and co-founder Dr. Nancy Satur talked about the business. Lortscher explained that the company is designed to make the paperwork part of a doctor’s life more efficient to spend more time with patients. He said it plans to integrate dictation software to meet that goal. He also said at the time that it plans to add other dermatologists as needed.
Although payers have added reimbursement for some telemedicine services bit by bit, most teledermatology companies offer a concierge service in which customers pay out of pocket.
Some of the teledermatology companies competing in the teledermatology sector include Iagnosis, which added a mobile platform earlier this year, DirectDermatology, YoDerm, DermLink, iDoc24, and FirstDerm. Earlier this year, Teladoc CEO Jason Gorevic said it would expand into telepsychology and teledermatology by the second quarter of 2015.
