Healthcare is expensive, and it’s increasingly suffering from overinflation. It seems that, while what we pay for consumer goods has tended to increase at a normal rate, healthcare costs have sky-rocketed in comparison. Quite a few startups have popped up of late that are attempting to bring disruptive vision to healthcare costs in the U.S., like the National Surgery Network, a sort of Hotwire for access to top surgical facilities, and MedLion , a group of doctors in Silicon Valley providing cheap primary to uninsured and insured patients alike, to name a few.
Avado, a startup launching at Disrupt NYC today, is partnering with healthcare businesses like the two mentioned above to provide a “Patient Relationship Management” platform, in an attempt to create a more communicative relationship between patient and doctor by way of “Connected Health Records”. Avado CEO and Co-founder Dave Chase likens Avado to a Salesforce for Healthcare … “with the key difference being that the customer (or patient) is also using the system”.
Chase said that the key motivation for the business is that healthcare works best and costs least when there is a more dynamic partnership between the patient and the health care provider. Through richer and more frequent communication, patients achieve the desired health outcomes set forth in the prescribed care regimen. This includes both a web-based app and an iPhone app.
Chase was formerly a 12-year employee at Microsoft, where he was instrumental in founding Microsoft’s healthcare business, and was a senior consultant at Accenture’s Healthcare Practice, working with more than two dozen healthcare providers and systems. So, given Chase’s background, one might be curious as to the comparison between Avado and Microsoft HealthVault, the platform that lets you store health information from many sources in one online location.
Chase also said that, while Microsoft’s focus has been on large entreprises, or hospitals and health systems, Avado will focus instead on small health providers, like doctors, clinicians, and health coaches, as well as the individual strength. The CEO hopes that Avado will provide a complement to Microsoft’s platform, rather than compete directly with it.
