What is the name of your solution?
Smart Doctor: Social Impact
Provide a one-line summary of your solution.
Smart Doctor improves the life quality of LatAm’s vulnerable communities through online health and wellness services.
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
The main health problem for more than 128 million people living in rural areas of Latin America is access to primary care services. For them, it is almost impossible to find a health center that provides quality medical care due to a lack of resources, such as the shortage of specialized healthcare professionals since 78% are in the cities. Due to the poor geographical distribution of these health centers, patients in LatAm must travel an average of 2 hours, which does not allow immediate access to services. Also, the waiting time to have a medical consultation can be up to 6 months, depriving the adequate follow-up to ensure a complete and quality treatment. And if the patient decides to cover the cost of a consultation out of pocket to get a faster medical appointment or have one with the needed specialist, it is greater than 4 times his/her daily income. Due to this, patients in LatAm only have 3.5 annual medical consultations, lower than the global average, thus generating high rates of diseases that can be prevented.
What is your solution?
Smart Doctor enables Latin American communities to access primary care services including mental health and nutrition support through a robust and secure telemedicine platform and uses data as a tool to improve the quality of life and measure the impact of the service. Smart Doctor is differentiated by the following features:
Anywhere. People can receive teleconsultations wherever they are through a web platform or mobile app, overcoming geographical barriers.
Anytime. We adapt to your time and your needs. Due to the assignment of medical staff for each community, availability is ensured and you can have a medical consultation in less than 5 minutes.
Affordable. We democratize access to health services by offering low prices for high-quality health care services.
Healthcare programs. We provide health and wellness services through general medicine, nutrition, and psychology teleconsultations. It is not necessary to be sick to use the service or to enter a program, we prevent illness and monitor people's treatments carefully.
Use of health data and technology. Our mobile app and web platform are easy to use and our back office is automated for data analysis. We believe that smarter use of digital technology and health data will empower people to make strategic decisions about their health.
Certified healthcare professionals. We have our own medical staff who is used to working with healthcare technology (electronic medical records, digital prescriptions), but know how to adapt to vulnerable communities' necessities and resources.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
We are a for-profit startup with social impact. We provide affordable, high-quality, on-demand acute, primary, and mental health care to employees and their families, under a B2B model. This allows us to generate income to provide the same service to vulnerable communities in LatAm and also contribute to health and technology education. In our Social Impact area, we collaborate with NGOs to create integral health programs adapted to communities’ needs. We create alliances with health institutions to provide additional benefits concerning health treatments, for example, discounts on medicine and laboratory exams.
Vulnerable communities do not have access to primary care services and wellness services, including mental health and nutrition. Rates of child malnutrition, obesity, depression, and mental illnesses are high in rural areas, diseases that can be prevented. Also, there is no adequate follow-up for chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. 80% of medical conditions can be treated with telemedicine and Smart Doctor does it successfully. Besides that, we prevent and monitor diseases and mental health problems continuously. This contributes to the integral well-being of the communities so that children perform better at school, people improve their productivity at work, and family life quality enhances. With the use of technology, we can reach all communities whether or not they have internet access. In addition, we teach people to integrate new technologies into their daily activities and educate them about the benefits of these new tools and innovations in health. In this way, vulnerable communities can access better opportunities and improve their health and quality of life. Smart Doctor is changing people's health habits, using technological resources, but adapting to the environment in which people live.
How are you and your team well-positioned to deliver this solution?
30 people make up the Smart Doctor team. We are in constant contact with customers and vulnerable communities to improve our service and product by analyzing the user experience, identifying needs, and obtaining key insights. We rely on the principle of constant iteration to be able to create a tailored product, using agile methodologies that allow us to innovate at all times.
Our core team is competent, empathetic and we are opinion leaders in the fields of technology and innovation in health services. 80% of us and our families are from cities outside the capital of Peru, Mexico, and Argentina, Latam countries where we live, and all of us at some point have directly faced issues related to public and private health services. We know the problem and its consequences, which inspires us to fight every day to change it.
Karen Salirrosas (CMO and Co-Founder): Endocrinologist. In charge of coordinating all medical staff, ensuring service quality, and providing support to obtain key insights from medical data.
Christian Rivera (CEO and Co-Founder): Intensivist doctor. He focuses on general business management and on raising money in investment rounds, always keeping the patient at the center.
Cristina Mallqui (Project Manager): In charge of direct contact with communities and the generation of alliances with NGOs. Supervises health projects and ensures that vulnerable communities adequately receive teleconsultations.
Luis Rivera (CSM): Responsible for ensuring the use of teleconsultations. He makes sure to get insights of the customers experiences and to be available to solve any problem.
- Renzo Tagle (COO): Responsible for analyzing insights to improve the operations for both companies and communities. Also, is in charge of product improvement through user analysis.
Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?
Build fundamental, resilient, and people-centered health infrastructure that makes essential services, equipment, and medicines more accessible and affordable for communities that are currently underserved;
Where our solution team is headquartered or located:
Lima, PeruOur solution's stage of development:
GrowthHow many people does your solution currently serve?
Currently, through B2B income, we have managed to generate alliances with 7 NGOs, impacting the lives of more than 1500 vulnerable people in many rural communities of Peru and Mexico.
Why are you applying to Solve?
The main reason to apply to Solve is to be able to participate in the 9-month program and to be in contact with mentors and other entrepreneurs. Our target audience is vulnerable communities. We are in the process of completing the segmentation and identification of the key needs of each type of user, as these communities have such broad characteristics. Once achieved, we will be able to adapt each program, either externally through the platform and app or internally through the way the team communicates and organizes. The Solve program, through the accompaniment of mentors, specialists, and other entrepreneurs, will support us to solve this problem even faster.
Likewise, the strategic advice of the experts will help us to improve the business model of the Social Impact area to make it even more sustainable, feasible, and scalable. With this help, we can distribute resources in the best way without losing focus on the patient. In addition, they will contribute to generating a solid image of our purpose through the activities and health programs that we carry out, which will help us so that more NGOs can create alliances with us and attract more social outreach partnerships.
Our goal is to be perceived as a social startup, in which the use of our service by our clients is equivalent to the benefit of vulnerable communities and will reduce the gaps in access to health services.
In which of the following areas do you most need partners or support?
Business model (e.g. product-market fit, strategy & development)
Who is the Team Lead for your solution?
Cristina Mallqui. PM - Social Impact
What makes your solution innovative?
5 reasons that make Smart Doctor innovative:
Technology, all in one place. Smart Doctor has 2 types of platforms, for the patient and our medical staff. The interaction is friendly, which allows the patient to access and separate teleconsultations in less than 3 minutes. There is an integrated electronic medical history for the doctor and the system is suitable for generating medical prescriptions. In addition, all interaction with the patient is carried out from the platform, since it has an integrated video call system, which allows us to separate ourselves from the traditional health system.
Structured health and wellness programs. We provide general medicine, nutrition, and psychology teleconsultations. We also treat and monitor chronic diseases such as diabetes, overweight, and hypertension. Each patient can enter a structured program according to their physical and mental condition and existing comorbidities.
Fast adaptation. So far, through our user analysis, we have created a platform to access teleconsultations from the web, without the need to download an application. In addition, we installed "Telecenters", which are booths that contain a computer and internet access located at strategic points in rural areas so that patients can receive teleconsultations. We have created alliances to provide additional support and created health communication campaigns for vulnerable communities.
New ways to reach communities. Through strategic alliances with NGOs, we have been able to impact a greater number of people and be able to segment the user more quickly. It allows us to work simultaneously with several programs since we have direct contact, which allows for easier communication. We created a different workflow that allows us to manage patient data through NGOs and provide monthly reports so they can be informed about the impact of the program. Also in 2020, we created an alliance with the Health Government of Peru to provide Smart Doctor services free of charge and we plan to make more alliances like this one.
Use of data for decision-making. Through the monthly reports generated, we can identify the needs of each community in relation to their health and the adaptation of the service to improve their habits. Thanks to the metrics obtained, we can continue to improve and further personalize the service.
What are your impact goals for the next year and the next five years, and how will you achieve them?
At the end of 2022:
6000 people in vulnerable situations will access Smart Doctor services in Peru, Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia through the creation of comprehensive health programs with NGOs.
70% of the people treated with Smart Doctor will improve their health and wellness habits, through health and wellness programs, which provide follow-up and continuous education with the patient.
30% reduction in mental problems and chronic diseases in patients treated with Smart Doctor.
Patients treated with Smart Doctor will increase up to 24 annual medical consultations.
At the end of 2027:
1 million people from vulnerable communities in Latin America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia will benefit from Smart Doctor services.
Work hand in hand with Ministries of Health from different countries to generate solutions based on health data collected by Smart Doctor.
Smart Doctor will integrate technology and innovation in health services, using wearables, interactive dashboards, data analysis, and interoperable health systems.
Reduction of mental problems and chronic diseases through education and quality health care so that people in vulnerable communities can make better decisions using their available resources and in the environment in which they find themselves.
How are you measuring your progress toward your impact goals?
# people benefited from the Smart Doctor service.
# communities benefited.
# medical conditions treated.
# teleconsultations per person.
# hours of sleep per person.
# hours of physical activity per day per person.
# glasses of water per day per person.
BMI of each person.
Patient satisfaction with the service.
Patient satisfaction with technology.
Satisfaction of our medical staff.
# alliances with NGOs.
# Alliances with regional and local governments in LatAm.
# health educational talks.
# shared educational materials.
Describe the core technology that powers your solution.
Smart Doctor uses technology that is confidential, reliable, and under all regulations of the countries in which we operate (Peru, Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil). We are authorized to provide medical teleconsultations from our own platform and app, as well as to generate medical prescriptions.
Our solution is multiplatform that can be used from the web, from an iPhone or Android, and has high availability architecture on AWS. Both the patient and the healthcare professional have a platform that can be used from any device. On the one hand, the patient platform has an integrated login, account verification, user profile, family members management, prescription, laboratory and pharmacy tests modules, entry of comments about the doctor, and electronic clinical history. On the other hand, the healthcare professional platform has integrated the registration and verification of credentials, login, user profile, schedule management, consultation price management, patient history, and electronic medical history that can be modified by each patient. Both platforms integrate an interface to make video calls from the platform that meets HIPAA compliance standards.
In addition, for our clients, a dashboard is available in which they can observe the health data of their collaborators, anonymously, in real-time. It is customizable according to the need and metrics that the client requires to measure.
Android app. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=patients.com.smartdoctor&hl=es
iOS app. https://apps.apple.com/pe/app/smartdoctor-app/id1556795740
Web platform. https://app.smartdoctor.la/#/
Which of the following categories best describes your solution?
A new business model or process that relies on technology to be successful
Please select the technologies currently used in your solution:
Which of the UN Sustainable Development Goals does your solution address?
In which countries do you currently operate?
In which countries will you be operating within the next year?
What type of organization is your solution team?
For-profit, including B-Corp or similar models
How many people work on your solution team?
6
How long have you been working on your solution?
1 year
What is your business model?
Smart Doctor generates income from the sale of the service to companies (B2B). We offer membership of 3 non-cumulative monthly teleconsultations for each collaborator of the companies, which can be General Medicine, Psychology, or Nutrition. The cost for each membership is $10 per month. In addition to teleconsultations, we offer webinars on different health topics, active breaks, and continuous follow-up with each patient so that they make use of their teleconsultations.
Also, through our platform and app, people can access Smart Doctor (B2C) services, which is another form of income. We charge 20% of each transaction made by the treating physician to a patient within this model.
For the Social Impact area, we have two ways of operating.
1) We donate 10% of our profits from memberships to people in vulnerable situations, whom we reach through partner NGOs. The donations made are teleconsultations in the specialties of general medicine, psychology and nutrition.
2) We offer teleconsultations at a social price of 3 dollars per teleconsultation to people in vulnerable situations, which allows us to cover the expenses of the consultation, but not generate additional income.
We offer vulnerable communities the same service we provide to companies for free or at a social price. Depending on the needs of each community and the person's profile, one of the two options that we handle at Social Impact is offered. This allows us to be sustainable over time and allows the Social Impact area to be feasible and scalable.
Do you primarily provide products or services directly to individuals, to other organizations, or to the government?
Organizations (B2B)What is your plan for becoming financially sustainable?
Currently, we are a for-profit startup, we generate income from the sale of our service to companies (clients). Also, being an early-stage startup, we raise investment rounds, which we plan to continue doing in the coming years.
In the future, we plan to generate income from service contracts to governments, which we are currently doing, but without charge.
Solution Team
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Cristina Mallqui Acosta Project Manager Jr., Smart Doctor
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LR
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KS
Karen Salirrosas Co-founder & Chief Medical Officer of Smart Doctor, Smart Doctor
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Our Organization
Smart Doctor