Ray
Ray Costantini

The common flu strikes down the best of us around this time of year. But imagine if you didn’t have to drive to your doctor’s office to receive treatment, instead simply checking in with your physician via a computer or mobile device.

The concept of remote care and telemedicine has been discussed at length in the past, but for a number of reasons it has not really taken root with the American public. Bright.md, a Portland startup that’s announcing $1 million in venture funding today from Portland Seed Fund, Seven Peaks Ventures and Oregon Angel Fund, is looking to change that with a new method for delivering healthcare.

In the process, Bright.md co-founder Ray Costantini, a doctor-turned-entrepreneur, believes he can save physicians a lot of time and money.

“Health care can be automated, and we can help streamline that process,” said Costantini, referring to his company’s new SmartExam virtual care product. Of the 15 most common medical ailments that a primary physician encounters, each one is algorithmic and predictable, said Costantini. Many can be solved in a matter of minutes by bypassing the physician’s office altogether, saving time for both patients and doctors. What used to be a 20-minute in-person patient visit can be reduced to about 90 seconds with the SmartExam, he says.

brightmdIn his presentation at the Bend Venture Conference earlier this month, Costantini said that primary physician wait times are “appalling.”

“Among developed countries, we have the very worst primary wait times, other than Canada. And Canada is getting better,” he said.

Faster turn-around times means more efficiency in the doctor’s office, which means physicians can focus on higher priority tasks.

In fact, Costantini said that the cost for care on the lower-level medical conditions is about $80 per visit, with doctor’s charging $85. That means they are making just a $5 margin on a 20-minute routine visit.

With SmartExam, he said they can reduce the total cost to roughly $15 per visit, utilizing a team of nurses or physician assistants. At about 90 seconds to 2-minutes in the SmartExam system, Costantini said that physicians can now make five to 10 times more margin on a per visit basis.

“That is really exciting,” said Costantini, the former regional medical director and director of product strategy at Providence Health and Services.

“The concept of being able to deliver remote care. Sure, that has been around for a long time,” said Costantini, speaking earlier this month. “But making it valuable for everyone: For patient. For provider. For payer. That’s where we are really unique, our ability to do all of those.”

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