Dive Brief:
- The mobile personal health platform Hello Doctor has raised $700,000 from angel investors at pharmacy companies, Google, and Facebook. The free app is available on the iPhone and iPad and allows users to access their medical records from various providers, write notes on the records, and organize them.
- The app was launched in October 2013 and recently integrated with Apple’s HealthKit. The integration will allow it to bring in information from consumer health devices. Furthremore, the password-protected app allows patients to take photos of records with a device’s camera and email them to physicians. The company is working on an Android version of the app and on creating a program that would allow others, like caregivers and family, to access a patient's medical records with his or her permission.
- Hello Doctor was founded in February 2013 by Mayaan Cohen after a string of frustrating medical experiences dealing with her previous boyfriend was diagnosed with cancer (he is now in remission). BlueRun Ventures previously invested in Hello Doctor, which is based in Tel Aviv, Israel and Palo Alto, California.
Dive Insight:
Hello Doctor is making swift headway in the digitization of medical records. Instead of logging into patient portals, individuals will now have mobile access to both records and other health information.
The app previously relied on patients entering the files manually, but according to an article in Fast Company, Hello Doctor now has access to records at more than half of U.S. clinics and hospitals. Nearly 200,000 patients can access lab results and other records from their providers through the app, which also functions with Dropbox. The integration with HealthKit will let patients import blood pressure readings, and the company plans to add readings for blood glucose in the near future.