John Sculley, the former Chief Executive Officer of Apple has spent the past ten years trying to use new technologies to reform health care, VentureBeat reported. Now that Obamacare is already fully implemented, he is betting that telemedicine startup MDLive will be able to transform medical practice to the modern era, the report said.
The telemedicine field or the business that links doctors and patients through a secure video line is a space that investors look at to be ridden with opportunities. It is considered as one of the few areas in the healthcare sector that has obtained tremendous support all over the US as a possible means to reduce healthcare costs, the report said.
Sculley gave his financial backing to MDLive which was founded by Randy Parker, a serial entrepreneur. The platform allows patients to register in just a few minutes to enable them to talk with a board certified doctor in three ways-email, phone or through a video call.The telemedicine startup recently obtained venture financing worth $23.6 million from Heritage Group and Sutter Health, the report said.
In a phone interview with VentureBeat, Sculley said, "The Affordable Care Act is creating a huge opportunity. We're realizing that the majority of people's appointments with doctors are for things that could be done online."
Sculley and Parker told VentureBeat that doctors are interested in providing their services on the platform because it gives them the chance to do flexible work. The system notices when the physician is already logged on and links him or her to patients requiring his services. The doctor will be the one to tell patients the schedule of an in-person follow-up check, the report said.
MDLive is meant to be an affordable alternative to patients who are shouldering healthcare costs out of pocket. An individual plan costs $14.95 each month while families need to pay $24.95 a month, the report said.
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