When Medici founder Clinton Phillips vacationed through Austria and Iceland with his family earlier this year, his son came down with a questionable back issue.
Fortunately for the duo, they were able to connect with their Houston-based pediatrician over the app Phillips created. Within minutes, their doctor identified the issue over video and prescribed medicine to treat him with little disruption to their travel plans.
After six months in stealth mode, Medici launched today, allowing patients and doctors to communicate via secured and encrypted text messages and video chat.
Phillips, who launched 2nd.MD in 2011, said he believes the shift to mobile communication will save over $30 billion in annual administrative costs, doctor hours and in-office patient visits, when comparing on-site appointments averaging $100 to $150 each time to $30 "remote" mobile visits.
"This really has the ability to be the Uber of healthcare," said Phillips. "We can be on every doctor’s phone, and this is how patients could choose to interact with their doctor."
Patients can securely connect with their own family doctors, veterinarians, therapists and other doctors, sharing photos via text and video. Doctors can then provide medical consultations and e-prescriptions and view the entire consultation in one location.
Doctors individually opt in to using the app, and Phillips said some have joined after patients expressed an interest in wanting to meet this way as opposed to a scheduled appointment.
Medici's policy only allows patients who have previously had face-to-face consultations with the doctor to participate in the app.
With a team of 25 employees, 13 work locally in Austin, with plans to expand immediately in marketing and tech roles. Phillips chose Austin to be closer to the technology our city offers, calling it the "innovative hub of Texas."
“I feel incredibly privileged to have this team behind me," said Phillips. "I think they saw the passion for the project. I had to do a lot of convincing, but the size of the opportunity is what attracted people."
Senior execs from Amazon, John Hopkins University, eBay, KPMG have joined the team, some working in Paris, Pal Alto, Houston and Sydney.
This year Phillips said he hopes to expand globally, establishing several test markets internationally by the start of the new year.
