Medici means “medical” in Latin. But as of today, it also refers to a new app.
Based in Austin, Texas, Medici launched today as messaging app that gives patients the opportunity to text all their doctors — no really, all their doctors — from a single platform. And if they feel the need for video communication, patients can press a button to activate the video chat feature.
Patients can invite their own family physician, dentist, dermatologist, pediatrician, therapist, nutritionist and even their veterinarian to join Medici. Alternatively, providers can reach out to their patients and invite them to join the platform.
Medici is a company from the mind of Clinton Phillips, who also founded 2nd.MD, a telehealth service. After starting 2nd.MD, Phillips came to a realization about how unhappy many physicians are. “Many of the great doctors I know today tell their children not to go into healthcare,” he said in a phone interview with MedCity. “When I heard my favorite doctor tell his son, ‘Whatever you do, don’t study medicine,’ I thought, ‘What can we really do to help alleviate this for doctors?'”
The solution, he realized, was texting, which allows physicians to respond at a faster rate. “If you want good doctors, you have to make it so simple for them,” Phillips added.
That key insight is, in Phillips’ words, what sets the company apart. “The first real difference is text as a basis,” he said. Whether at home, at the movies or in a restaurant, patients can use Medici and get a quick response.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Another key difference is the fact that it’s your doctor — not a doctor you’ve never talked to before. “Doctors are losing patients to urgent care and telemedicine. They don’t have the tools to really compete,” Phillips said. But Medici gives doctors the chance to keep their patients and easily interact with them.
Medici has now officially launched in all 50 states, and Phillips said it hopes to launch in four or five more countries this year.
Phillips said for Medici, success includes launching in additional countries in the future. But it’s more than that. Looking ahead, Phillips said he would describe success as follows: “I would say we are in 10 countries managing millions of conversations a week and making a meaningful difference in our doctors’ lives. It’s a given we’ll be making a meaningful difference in our patients’ lives, but I think that’s what’s missing. If you don’t make it useful for physicians, you can’t drive meaningful change.”
Correction: This article previously stated “medici” means “doctors” in Latin. It actually means “medical.” We regret the error.
Photo: diego_cervo, Getty Images
