It looks like we’re in a mini-boomlet for webified patient information apps. Doctors can’t ignore the fact that their customers would prefer to communicate by cell phones to make appointments, view records, and ask questions like they do with just about any other service they rely on.
At TechCrunch Disrupt I met up with the MyMD team, which has basic doctor appointment app–patients, by the way, can attach pictures–that’s highly secure. In fact, the communication is deleted after the appointment period is over. Their limited retention policy earns them, according to their marketing, “the snapchat of healthcare”.
Overall, I think they did a smart job of coming with a basic service that wouldn’t scare away tech-averse doctors and patients who might be worried about privacy issues. I chatted briefly with the founder, Himakera Pieris, who it turns out has a deep background in compliance. He’s work on specialized compliance and governance software for pharmaceuticals and financial companies. And–yes I asked–Pieris is quite familiar with HIPAA rules for safeguarding patent data. For the record, they have agreements with HIPAA-compliant cloud services, and data even when stored temporarily is encrypted.
What kind of doctor would be interested in MyMD? According to Pieris, there’s a new model for medical practices, known as concierge services, which allows patients to get access to their doctors outside of office hours. Think of this as virtual house visits. These doctors are used to receiving calls and emails from their patients, and therefore very amenable to MyMD’s more secure and better controlled service