Moonshot Interview with StartUp Health
Startup Health is an incubator and investing network “organizing a global army of entrepreneurs committed to achieving health moonshots”. SimpleVisit is proud to be among the select “Health Transformer” utilizing our unique technology to improve access to care in the US and around the world. The following is an excerpt of a Q&A interview regarding our “Moonshot Moment” answered by SimpleVisit’s co-founder, Rob Warlick:
SUH: What is your moonshot? How are you/your company working to achieve your moonshot(s)?
RW: SimpleVisit is a service with the unique technology that enables any smart device to be used for a telemedicine appointment. Our dream is to “transform access to care to become as simple as answering a call”. SimpleVisit is positioned as a live telemedicine receptionist service connecting Doctors and patients with a direct call over common applications like Facetime, Skype and Hangouts.
SUH: What inspired you to take on this moonshot? Any personal connection?
RW: After working in the healthcare technology space for years, we saw a real need to make to innovation of virtual care as seamless as possible for the average patient. There were too many smart healthcare providers getting roadblocks by clunky video technology.
SUH: What do you do to inspire/enable moonshot thinking in your company?
RW: “We” are always smarter than just “Me”. Our team collaborates internally as well as with other innovators in the healthcare space to mine for inspiration and ideas that will transform access to care.
SUH: What progress have you made towards achieving your moonshot in the last year?
RW: After the initial launch of our technology in 2016, we began to implement a service approach that has been validated with key partners in various verticals in healthcare. (EMRs, ACOs, and Health Systems). We have since found a strong fit within the direct-to-patient Behavioral Health space and well as Urgent Care environments — supporting hundreds of sessions per month for those use cases.
SUH: Why is moonshot thinking important in healthcare?
RW: Healthcare rests on the idea of hope. Hope that things will get better. Hope that our experiences and insights can contribute to better outcomes not just 100 years down the road, but for our generation, our lifetime. Moonshot thinking marries hope with a strategy to make that vision a reality.
SUH: What progress have you seen over the last year that has you most excited about your moonshot?
RW: Telemedicine as a medium for accessible care has gained acceptance in more areas of healthcare than ever before. We have just reached the tip of the iceberg that I believe will be realized in 2019. I am excited to continue to break down barriers to care by collaborating with an army of health transformers.
We at SimpleVisit are proud and excited to be a part of StartUp Health’s drive to help industry Health Transformers succeed in their Health Moonshots, transforming innovation in healthcare. To learn more about SimpleVisit’s partnership with StartUp Health, read our announcement here.
About Simple Visit
SimpleVisit is a video service which allows patients and providers to connect over the video platform of their choice. With SimpleVisit providers are able to deliver on-demand visits to patients over any device or platform they have available to them. For more information on SimpleVisit and on how we are enabling providers to host virtual visits check out www.SimpleVisit.com
CMS Rural Health Strategy Promotes Telehealth
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is the leading government organization that oversees and manages federal healthcare programs. In 2016, CMS established the Rural Health Council (RHC) to address the unique needs of patients and practices in rural...
Stopping the Mental Health Stigma
One of the many challenges of recovery that mental health patients face is the stigma surrounding their need for help. In this article shared by Med City News, Patrick Kennedy, former member of the U.S. House of Representatives, discusses this issue surrounding the...
Telehealth: Increasing Access to Behavioral Health Services
The use and reputation of telemedicine in the healthcare industry has continued to increase over the years as more and more payers and providers are seeing it as a viable solution. Telemedicine’s ability to control cost in complex clinical and behavioral health...