Startup looks to make doctor visits a click away - Boston Business Journal:

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He’s the founder and co-CEO of , a Boston-basec startup that launched its debugt product latelast month, combininb secure e-mail with a Web camera. “It has all of the otherf assets that you need to make this a meaningfuol healthcare interaction,” Schoenberg “You’ll have the ability to share your medical recordzs for the provider to review ... to suggest follow-ups and to writr prescriptions.” The company is collaboratingv with to enhance its technologuy and has inked a deal with to reach as manyas 1.3 milliohn clients beginning in 2009.
Americanj Well said the company has raised moneuy inthe double-digit-million range, mostlhy from angel investors, and already employs 85 people as it rampxs up its platform for otheer clients. Schoenberg describes the concepyt asa “brokerage” that connects patients with health providersz and insurers through secure instant messaging and Web Patients, Schoenberg said, need only log into the seek a list of physicians currently available as they are searching and then inquire to see a doctoer or specialist. Patients also have the ability to engagedoctorsx quickly. Feedback from physicians is generally generatefwithin minutes.
American Well sells individual patienf licenses tohealth plans, at $2 apiece. There are also implementatiohn and hosting costs that theinsurer pays, as well as a smalo transaction fee “in pennies” ever time a consumer interacts with a providef through the system. In providers are paid for their time devotexd tothe system. Patients are billed once a “visit” that laste at least 10 minutes, and they pay by credit Some observers see the concept of Web interactiobn between patients and doctors as long overdues andspreading fast.
Accordingf to a recent studhy bythe , 78 perceng of health care consumers want to interact with providerse online. “There is a need to try to innovatr around delivery in this said Dr. Ronald F. a internist who has been testing the concep through research sponsored by the Innovative Technology, or CIMIT. Dixon said he has conductesd studies using similar technology and a control study involving dozene of patientsat , of which he is a He said patients responded well to the idea and that such technologyy is particularly useful.
He said the approachg has been usedin pediatrics, psychiatry and But Dixon cautioned that providers and patientd shouldn’t rush into using it outrighty until consistent standards and guidelinesa are developed. He also worriess that a system such as the one American Well offersx could cause fragmentationof care, where an unfamiliare doctor will offer treatmentt and not necessarily know the patient or the patient’s medical history. “The concern,” he said, “is one mistake can be tragic.
You don’t want to play with Schoenberg said thatAmerican Well, which launcheds in 2006, is generating stead interest from health plans. And he sees his company as enhancingb care rather thanlimiting it, because multiple providers will be able to interacyt with a patient at the same time, if need be.