By Karen-Janine Cohen
Robert Rodriguez, founder and CEO of HelixVM, believes healthcare is ripe for a new paradigm when it comes to connecting doctors and patients remotely.
HelixVM, founded in 2021, allows patients to seek a provider though its portal – clients need not go through their primary care physician, or seek authorization. Using a detailed questionnaire, the information is then evaluated by the proprietary software and sent to an appropriate participating doctor or other provider. Artificial intelligence is used about 20-to-30 percent of the time when it comes to figuring out what the patient’s complaint and diagnosis may entail.
“We are breaking new ground here,” said Rodriguez. “One of the reasons we went straight to the consumer is that we have a novel way of doing business and medicine.”
Once notified and given information, providers then contact the patient, usually by phone or video chat, or prescribe medicines. In some cases, the services can be provided without a video chat. The process aims to save time for both the patient and the doctor.
The idea came during the pandemic, when telehealth became widespread, said Rodriguez, who is originally from New York, and worked at several big-name companies after earning an MBA. Rodriguez has been involved in urgent care since 2003 through the Helix Urgent Care centers, where he learned the (astonishingly complex) healthcare rules and regulations, not to mention the byzantine protocols of insurance coverage.
HelixVM, located in the Research Park at Florida Atlantic University, has about 40 employees, both here and overseas, and went live last year. So far, they have served more than 40,000 patients, and expect to double that this year.
The “magic” of the operation is that the doctor or other provider will get a complete chart and, ideally, be pointed to the most likely diagnosis. The algorithms have to also know and correctly apply the codes used universally for specific symptoms and conditions. When information does not align – for example, a person using a statin asking for fentanyl – the AI will kick in.
What makes the service unique, said Rodriguez, is it is self-service. The company’s providers treat a variety of conditions and can write prescriptions. The most common requests are for colds and the flu, he said, but the service also addresses rashes, digestive upsets, erectile dysfunction, many kinds of prescription refills (that can be delivered to one’s door) and other general conditions. HelixVM accepts most major insurance but it’s not required.
HelixVM is not the only operator in the sector. Amazon One Medical has an online offering, though it also provides in-person options. And other players are to be found.
Yet it takes some getting used to for both doctors and patients, acknowledged Rodriguez. Patients are used to “hand holding” when visiting doctors’ offices, he said. “This is not a hand-holding process.” On the provider side, he said the biggest issue is becoming comfortable with standardized treatments while not actually seeing the patient. “We have to train the doctors to work with a hypothesis and specific data sets.”
The site has not been without challenges. There are at least 50 bad reviews about the service online, which Rodriguez acknowledges. Many have to do with payments, such as people saying they were charged for services they didn’t receive, or customer service. Rodriguez said they are working to resolve such issues, but he chalks up most of the complaints to people not understanding the way the site works and how their own insurance copays and deductibles work. He also said that sometimes people don’t realize the service may be out of network.
Rodriquez said about $5 million – mostly his funds – have been invested in HelixVM, while the company revenue has hit between $6 million and $7 million. They don’t expect to break even until they reach 10,000 customers per month on a continuing basis.
Earlier this month, HelixVM won the $50,000 Grand Prize at the Florida Venture Forum’s Florida Early Stage Venture Conference in Orlando attended by 500 investors, founders and community supporters. HelixVM was one of seven startups from South Florida selected to pitch at the event, which featured 37 startups in all.
The photo at top of this post shows CEO Robert Rodriguez, at right, pitching HelixVM at the Florida Early Stage Venture Conference.
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