As part of a growing push to let patients own their medical history, digital health startup Vyrty recently launched a mobile app called Sync.MD that lets users store and share medical records with doctors.
The Redmond, Wash.-based startup is making a go at a field dominated by large electronic health records (EHR) providers like Epic Systems, Cerner and Allscripts. The decades-long effort to digitize health records has been largely successful, with 87 percent of physicians now using an EHR system, according to the CDC.
Most of these platforms put hospitals in charge of the data, making it difficult for patients to move records from one provider to another.
By contrast, Sync.MD makes patients the guardians of their data. Vyrty recently raised $3 million to pursue that vision, bringing the company’s valuation to $9.5 million.
“For far too many patients and doctors, the simple task of sharing medical documents with one another can end up being a multi-week process filled with constant delays, mistakes, and stress,” Vyrty CEO Eugene Luskin told GeekWire in an email.
“Patients should be able to focus their energy on working with their doctors to manage their health, not navigating the byzantine bureaucracies of healthcare companies and an endless stream of incompatible tech or interfaces.”
The world’s largest tech companies are also in the race to build better medical records.
Apple launched an EHR system last year and is reportedly in talks with the Department of Veteran’s Affairs to deploy the service. Amazon recently started selling software that analyzes patient data. In August, Alphabet and Microsoft joined other tech leaders in pledging to make products to improve medical records sharing under a set of guidelines known as FHIR.
Here’s how Sync.MD works:
- Patients install the app from the Google Play or iTunes app store.
- Records can be scanned into the app through a phone camera or uploaded from a computer.
- Physicians can receive some or all of the patient records by asking the patient to scan a QR code on the Sync.MD website.
In addition to the newly launched Sync.MD mobile app and website, Vyrty also operates a system for electronic health records that uses a physical card and reader to store and share information.
Luskin said he doesn’t see the card and app offerings as “mutually exclusive,” adding that cards may be preferable in offline environments or places where enhanced security is needed. Some patients may also like the simplicity of the card system.
Luskin said the company is preparing for a Series B funding round.
