Revolutionary well being tech startup Consultmed is shaking up the antiquated system of paper and faxed referrals in Australia, has secured a seven-figure funding increase to help its subsequent section of development.
Designed by clinicians for clinicians, the platform permits safe trade of healthcare info between suppliers and streamlines digital referrals, consent, medical triage, and distant professional opinion.
Australian early-stage VC Investible has led the $1.2 million funding in Consultmed.
The fairness funding will give Consultmed the capital backing to increase its digital platform throughout hospitals and healthcare networks in Australia.
Discovering a greater approach
Launched in 2019, the expansion of Consultmed has been pushed by firm founder Dr Vikram Palit, a paediatrician and senior lecturer in well being administration at UNSW.
The concept behind Consultmed got here from Dr Palit’s frustrations working as a junior physician, the place his medical duties had been repeatedly interrupted by time-consuming paper referrals, pagers, and faxes.
He recognised early that at a time when there are such acute pressures on GPs and the hospital system, hours of clinician and admin work spent processing paper referrals meant much less time really seeing sufferers.
“Dr Palit’s deep expertise in Australian healthcare and the facilitation of digital well being file rollouts within the UK display a really distinctive connection to the area,” stated Joanna Ng, Funding Supervisor at Investible.
“By enhancing specialist efficiencies, Consultmed is already bringing large advantages to Australia’s healthcare system. We sit up for supporting the crew as they scale.”
Trade validation
On the again of the profitable spherical, Dr Palit stated the participation of trade professionals marked an vital validation for the service Consultmed is bringing to market.
“A big proportion of this funding spherical has come from senior medical workers who use Consultmed each day and see the constructive change that it makes to their workflows and for his or her sufferers,” Palit stated.
“It’s been superb to see so many GPs and specialists get behind the product and take part on this spherical.”
“And with VC backing and the appreciable expertise of the Investible crew, we’ve got the capital and experience to successfully scale-up over the following two years.”
Axe the fax
In Australia, over 80 per cent of medical referrals to specialists are nonetheless despatched by fax. The corporate’s slogan #axethefax appealed instantly to Dr Matthew Lam, a Sydney-based GP and person of Consultmed.
“Most of my sufferers are stunned once I hand them a paper referral or inform them that I’m going to fax it to the native hospital,” Lam stated.
“As a GP, I can use Consultmed to ship a referral digitally, and be comforted within the data that the specialist on the opposite aspect has really obtained it, in real-time. This additionally reduces medical errors and danger to affected person security … paper referrals are misplaced or misplaced on a regular basis.”
Lam additionally stated the end-to-end interface improves two-way communication practices for healthcare professionals.
“I also can ask for specialist recommendation and steering by the app. That is actually useful as a result of I can higher handle my sufferers domestically, and save them a visit to the hospital.”
Positioned for development
The spherical closure caps off a profitable 12 months for Consultmed, which included victory in Startup Day by day’s Pitch Good competitors in partnership with Microsoft Australia in 2021.
The corporate has additionally secured innovation and seed funding from Authorities, and efficiently launched its referral platform throughout Sydney Youngsters’s Hospitals Community – the biggest paediatric healthcare service in Australia.
The Consultmed platform is at present stay at six hospital websites in NSW and is used each day to ship and obtain referrals by tons of of GPs, specialists, allied healthcare staff and directors.
As proof of its early market traction, the corporate has already constructed out a nationwide footprint for its operations crew with workers in Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and Newcastle.
The Consultmed crew are backed by a formidable advisory board comprised of senior healthcare leaders and digital well being specialists, together with medical informatics specialist and ophthalmologist, Dr Ashley Kras.
For Kras, Consultmed is a number one instance of the type of fast-moving tech options which might be ideally suited to constructing improved well being outcomes within the wake of the worldwide pandemic.
“The pandemic has accelerated the alternatives for digital well being applied sciences to rework the way in which clinicians work,” Kras stated.
“Consultmed’s referral platform is an easy and future-proofed resolution to a long-standing drawback in healthcare.
“What units it aside is that it combines a user-friendly interface with safe messaging know-how and integration to different medical programs. And what it does notably properly is that it improves each the affected person and the supplier expertise.”
With $1.2m in new funding, Palit and the crew shall be targeted on scaling the platform throughout extra hospital networks in 2022, the place talks with a number of suppliers are already ongoing.
It makes for an thrilling 12 months forward, because the platform consolidates its first-mover benefit with product-market match as one of many main new tech options in Australia’s healthcare market.
Picture provided: Consultmed founder, Dr Vikram Palit and Stephanie Hodgson, Head of Product
@doctor_vik
Twitter deal with: @Consultmed_Au
