CareTicker has created a mobile platform that provides all the necessary planning and coordination for pre- and post-procedure hospital stays. And it’s planning to roll out a host of different apps for specific procedures, starting with one for expecting mothers.
Launching at TechCrunch Disrupt SF, the idea is to simplify the hospital check-in process, help users manage post-procedure care and to connect patients with care providers after their hospital stay. The average patient is generally rushed out of the hospital after most procedures with a list of prescriptions and suggestions for care, as well as a suggested post-procedure care provider. But Careticker’s mobile platform is designed to connect users with the help they need, showing which healthcare providers are nearby and which take their insurance. It also helps users keep track of prescriptions and other needs post-procedure.
KnockedUp is Careticker’s first app, which specializes in pre- and post-natal care. It’s designed to prepare expecting mothers for all the steps leading up to the day their child is born. That means giving them a checklist of things they’ll need to take care of pre-admission, and helping them after their babies are born.
When a patient checks in to the hospital, the app will let her physician and her “pit crew” — friends and family — know that she’s there, and send them instructions via SMS if they need to bring her anything or what they can do to help out. And at checkout, users will have a list of pediatricians and other local healthcare providers to choose from.
Careticker plans to make money off its apps through data acquisition and e-commerce, with the potential to license its platform out to hospitals. Data acquisition means providing referrals out to nursing and other health care providers, as well as prescription drug providers. On the e-commerce side, it sees the possibility of enabling in-app purchasing for other goods and services. Careticker CEO Chiara Bell said that she’s not quite sure about licensing the platform to hospitals quite yet, in part because many want to limit post-procedure providers to their own suggested list.
Bell is a serial entrepreneur who has been working on technology in the healthcare field since 1998. She was also one of the finalists in a previous TechCrunch Conference 2008. Careticker currently has four people on staff, and has been bootstrapped since its founding late last year.
Battlefield Q&A
Q: Where do you get your information from? Do you integrate with hospitals?
A: We won’t be integrating with hospitals. It’s a very long sales cycle. We’re working with physicians directly instead.
Q: What’s the value proposition for patients?
A: The value prop for patient is that when they leave now they just get a stack of papers. Now instead, they’ll already have the app, and will already know what they need to do.
Q: How important is buy-in from doctors?
A: We are very focused on buy-in from physicians. Physicians have embraced it for a number of reasons. The physician’s reimbursement will be focused on patient outcomes.
Q: What do you do to have credibility with doctors?
A: Right now, there’s no national protocol for these procedures. We are working to provide that.
Q: Personal productivity apps are tough to scale. How do you socialize with them? It seems tough to reach people cheaply.
A: We didn’t want to do social just to do social. Instead I will know every person in Florida who had a procedure and checked out on a certain date. I can aggregate that data and find out what they used.