Heal, a California-based startup company, is looking to bring convenience and efficiency to the healthcare system in San Francisco, much the way Uber did with transportation. For $99, Heal sends a primary care doctor straight to your front door to treat noncomplex health complaints, such as a feverish child; illnesses which typically drive traffic into primary care offices. With just the tap of a button, this on-demand health care company can help minimize the waiting room line in a doctor’s office, and help patients gain quick answers to their health questions or prescriptions. Dr. Renee Dua, a practicing nephrologist, and her husband, Nick Desai, an entrepreneur, founded Heal after their own experience of trying to find a doctor for their child while also working around their own busy schedules. However, receiving medical attention for their child was not the only concern behind the creation of Heal. Dua and Desai were also not satisfied with the results they received from the healthcare system through their own experience, and believe that patient care has slowly degraded. A doctor who has been a part of Heal part-time, Janani Krishnaswami, stated in a Buzzfeed article, “It’s very rare for someone to feel comfortable in a medical setting. You’re surrounded by people who are suffering, there’s an exam table, you feel exposed. It’s hard to get at the root causes — the lifestyle factors — that are causing the same patterns. I would see these patterns in my patients, and I felt frustrated that I wasn’t really able to work with them as an advocate.” As of today, Heal has a team of around 40 healthcare providers, and over 30 percent of their clientele have become repeat users. Although Heal isn’t the first startup whose goal it is to use technology to change the basics of medical care, it is unique in its cost. Pager, an app created by Uber’s former engineer, Oscar Salazar, has a fee of $300 to allow patients to order a doctor to their home for a consultation. Heal has big plans for the future. Soon, healthcare providers on Heal will be able to do basic tests in home, such as urine samples. Patients will also be able to request repeat visits from a physician and will have the opportunity to stay in touch with their healthcare provider by phone. In the long run, Heal seeks to make healthcare convenient and affordable. Before long, patients will have the choice of having a medical assistant make pharmacy visits to pick up prescriptions and other useful things an ill person may need, such as tissues and painkillers, for a $19 fee. Heal has also begun working with insurance providers to establish a co-pay and a service fee from users, decreasing the current $99 fee.
About Sara Seng
Sara Seng was formerly the social media specialist at Barton Associates’ Peabody, MA, headquarters, where she focused on growing brand awareness and engagement. She received her bachelor of science in communications from Salem State University.
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