Business Black Box

For more from Business Black Box visit insideblackbox.com
Imagine if going to your doctor was as easy as going
online. Imagine if instead of a long office wait, it actually
meant more time with your physician. And imagine if
you could manage your healthcare all from your mobile
phone or iPad.
Shameet Luhar and Philip Rub did, and used the Iron
Yard as a launch pad to “transform personalized medicine”
through their startup, Vheda. Meaning “knowledge” in
Sanskrit, Vheda is a care management platform that
offers patients that are suffering from chronic
disease or experiencing life events (like
type 2 diabetes, obesity, or even a high
risk pregnancy), a more individualized,
simple approach to their healthcare.
“We offer them live video coaching
sessions with a medical practitioner,
all from their handheld mobile
device,” says Luhar. For those with
chronic conditions, consistent care
is key, and through Vheda, patients
can ease some of the challenges of
maintaining and keeping doctors
appointments, while at the same
time have ready access to doctors on
a week-by-week basis. At the same
time, doctors’ offices should see a
reduction in no-show rates from toobusy
patients.
“By you being on our plan, you get to
see the same practitioner—or the nurse who
knows you—working with you on your
specific needs through the disease,” says Luhar.
Rub agrees. “It’s really about convenience
and personalization,” he says. “We’re trying
to build a platform that is convenient and also
is tailored to your specific needs, based on how
you are doing with that disease.”
Under new healthcare regulations, healthcare
that happens virtually is eligible for reimbursement,
so Vheda could gain traction in the industry very
quickly. By targeting employer groups, insurance
companies and hospital systems—and with an early
focus on diabetes care—they hope to show the
potential cost savings for all involved.
“There’s about a $7,000 difference between
a diabetic who is managing their diabetes and
one who is not, per year,” says Luhar, referring
to a study that says that diabetes patients, over
the course of their lifetimes, can spend upward
of $85,000 out of pocket for managing
their diabetes care. “What we want to do is
minimize that $85,000 over the lifetime of
their care and make it as small as possible.”
58
Q4 2013 // Business Black Box