http://www.wsj.com/articles/startups-vie-to-build-an-uber-for-health-care-1439265847 ( you can google "wsj uber health care" to read the entire piece behind the paywall )
Darren Gold had a stomach virus the first time he used an app called Heal to summon a doctor to his Beverly Hills home. He liked the Stanford-trained doctor who showed up so much that he called Heal again when his 2-year-old son had a fever, and again when the whole family had colds.
The charges—$99 each for the first two visits; $200 for the family—weren’t covered by insurance, but Mr. Gold, who owns a corrugated-box company, says that was still a bargain compared with taking time off work to go to the doctor. “Now, whenever my son bumps himself, he says, ‘Daddy, we need to get the doctor here,’ ” Mr. Gold says.
Heal is one of several startups putting a high-tech spin on old-fashioned house calls—or “in-person visits,” since they can take place anywhere. The services provide a range of nonemergency medical care—from giving flu shots to treating strep throats and stitching lacerations—much like a mobile urgent-care clinic.
The companies use slightly different models. Pager, in New York City, dispatches doctors or nurse practitioners via Uber, for $200. Heal, in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Orange County, Calif., promises to “get a doctor to your sofa in under an hour” for $99. (A medical assistant goes along to do the driving and parking.)
Pager, which has treated about 5,000 patients in New York’s five boroughs since its founding last year, says a typical patient is a young mother with one sick child and others she doesn’t want to bring along to the doctor’s office too or leave at home. “Health checks,” in which a nurse does cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar and other tests for $75, are also popular—even in office settings.
On one such visit recently, Kunal Merchant, a 34-year old Facebook executive with a new baby on the way, wanted to be sure he was healthy, but didn’t want to take hours off work to visit a primary-care physician he barely knew. So he booked an office conference room, and scheduled a Pager visit. Registered nurse Eve Rorison brought all the gear she needed to check his blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol, heart rate and BMI, in her backpack. About 15 minutes and one finger prick later, she declared, “You’re very healthy—keep up the good work.”
Darren Gold had a stomach virus the first time he used an app called Heal to summon a doctor to his Beverly Hills home. He liked the Stanford-trained doctor who showed up so much that he called Heal again when his 2-year-old son had a fever, and again when the whole family had colds.
The charges—$99 each for the first two visits; $200 for the family—weren’t covered by insurance, but Mr. Gold, who owns a corrugated-box company, says that was still a bargain compared with taking time off work to go to the doctor. “Now, whenever my son bumps himself, he says, ‘Daddy, we need to get the doctor here,’ ” Mr. Gold says.
Heal is one of several startups putting a high-tech spin on old-fashioned house calls—or “in-person visits,” since they can take place anywhere. The services provide a range of nonemergency medical care—from giving flu shots to treating strep throats and stitching lacerations—much like a mobile urgent-care clinic.
The companies use slightly different models. Pager, in New York City, dispatches doctors or nurse practitioners via Uber, for $200. Heal, in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Orange County, Calif., promises to “get a doctor to your sofa in under an hour” for $99. (A medical assistant goes along to do the driving and parking.)
Pager, which has treated about 5,000 patients in New York’s five boroughs since its founding last year, says a typical patient is a young mother with one sick child and others she doesn’t want to bring along to the doctor’s office too or leave at home. “Health checks,” in which a nurse does cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar and other tests for $75, are also popular—even in office settings.
On one such visit recently, Kunal Merchant, a 34-year old Facebook executive with a new baby on the way, wanted to be sure he was healthy, but didn’t want to take hours off work to visit a primary-care physician he barely knew. So he booked an office conference room, and scheduled a Pager visit. Registered nurse Eve Rorison brought all the gear she needed to check his blood sugar, blood pressure, cholesterol, heart rate and BMI, in her backpack. About 15 minutes and one finger prick later, she declared, “You’re very healthy—keep up the good work.”
