Mark Seraly M.D., CEO, CMO, and Founder of Iagnosis a company located in the Pittsburgh area, found himself with patients on an eight month waiting list. He decided to go virtual and so form a company to develop a service known as “DermatologistOnCall®” launched August 2013.
Today, patients with skin conditions are able to have virtual visits with board-certified dermatologists by submitting their medical history, information, and photographs related to their skin condition via a secure web-based mobile app. It has been found that an estimated 80 to 85 percent of skin conditions can be safely diagnosed and treated virtually
Patients with minor conditions receive a diagnosis and treatment plan within three business days. Where the diagnosis remains unclear or the diagnosis is potentially serious the patients are then quickly scheduled for an in person visit.
The program works by enabling:
- A patient to use onetime prequalification, consent, and profile set-up to verify the their eligibility to receive services
- The patient to submit medical information and photographs
- The patient to review their submissions and payments and make changes if necessary
- The information to be transmitted to a network dermatologist
- The dermatologist to diagnose and develop a treatment plan
- The patient to have follow-up communication for 30 days
As of August 2013, a growing number of board-certified dermatologists have signed on and offer online visits through the system to patients mainly in the Pittsburgh area. Iagnosis is rapidly expanding across Pennsylvania and expects to expand into neighboring states, and then to other states. The company is in various stages of obtaining legal and regulatory approval in a number of states outside of Pennsylvania.
Patients pay $69 per visit with this money going to the dermatologist handling the case. At present, insurers do not cover services offered through the program but program developers are hopeful that some insurers will do so in the future. Participating dermatologists pay a weekly licensing fee for access to the virtual platform including the tools needed to facilitate a diagnosis and treatment that can include ePrescribing.
In 2010, Iagnosis applied for and was awarded a Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery project tax credit at www.grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/QTDP_PIM/index.htm from the IRS and HHS which reviews the applications for credit.
So far, the company has invested significant funds to create, upgrade, and maintain the system. Going forward, the company hopes to sign agreements with outside investors to support expansion of the program.
The company has developed a marketing partnership with Highmark, a large insurer, which has agreed to take steps to create greater awareness of the service among its 4.9 million members in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Delaware.
For more information, contact Mark Pl. Seraly, MD CEO at Iagnosis at mseraly@iagnosis.com or call (724) 969-2500.
Source: AHRQ Health Care Innovations Exchange at www.innovations.ahrq.gov.