The doctors at SaluberMD don’t quite make house calls, but they are available via video from anywhere, at anytime. A SaluberMD experience bypasses the drive to and the long wait at the doctor’s office or emergency room and starts with a high-touch consultation with a primary care physician or specialist.
In 15 minutes or less, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, you can be screen-to-screen with a doctor who can access your personal medical records, assess your vitals, diagnose the problem and offer a treatment plan or facilitate any necessary in-person follow up.
“As an emergency physician, I found it difficult to accept that some accidents, some deaths and other medical issues were happening to patients because of lack of information and access to a physician in a timely manner.” says SaluberMD Board Member Dr. Shai Misan, a YPO member and Europe Regional Chair. “I was fascinated by how much technology can do in health care, how much information we can get through technology in health care in order to improve our decisions and outcomes for patients.”
And with good reason: according to a recent study by Johns Hopkins, the third leading cause of death in the United States is medical errors, claiming over 250,000 lives each year. Misan understood that access to better information could help physicians more accurately diagnose patients and prevent some errors.
Innovating around a health care need
SaluberMD’s approach was for need-driven innovation. Misan along with international experts from Hong Kong, Israel, the United States and Italy started by trying to understand an important problem in health care — access to medical services and information to deliver better health outcomes — as well as the needs and perspectives of all the stakeholders involved. They discussed actual and potential solutions and then designed the technology uniquely suited to solve it.
“When you are traveling, you are exposed and we help you when you are most vulnerable with just one click,” says Misan. “As global citizens of the world, language can not be a barrier anymore.”
A virtual doctor visit
The digital health services company offers concierge medicine to more people faster. “Today, there is a doctor shortage all over the world,” says Misan. “The United States alone will lack 150,000 doctors over the next five years.” SaluberMD could potentially help solve a global doctor shortage and provide better access to health advice.
With SaluberMD, patients can receive immediate medical attention with any available doctor who has access to the relevant 
“In effect, I can extend my hand through the video and touch your hand or your pulse as I would if I were sitting next to you,” says Misan. “We are able to use many algorithms to read when the heart is pushing the blood to give you an actual blood pressure without the cuff.”
Providing access
Many patients are turning to concierge medical services for quick medical access for timely diagnosis and immediate treatment. Why? Because it saves lives and prevents acute problems from becoming critical. However, concierge medical services cover only a small portion of the customers today.
“We take it to one level down,” says Misan. “We are permitting more doctors to come to that place and more customers to get that service.”
Doctors are embracing SaluberMD because they can provide this type of 24/7 responsiveness at a lower cost, generate new customers, be more flexible with their office hours and maximize their billing time. Doctors can answer and treat patients not only when they are at the office but remotely when they are on vacation or at home.
Keeping doctors, hospitals in the loop
One of advantages of the SaluberMD model is that it allows doctors to serve patients in an easier and more efficient way. Doctors can better triage patients, since they can get a first glance at the patient and the patient’s vitals over video. This helps lower the rate of patients going to the office and ER and prevent a bottleneck for treatable conditions.
“The doctor will see you over the video and solve the problem in 85 percent of the cases,” says Misan. “And if needed, the doctor will see you in person faster because now the doctor knows it is really urgent.”
“As an emergency physician, I found it difficult to accept that some accidents, some deaths and other medical issues were happening to patients because of lack of information and access to a physician in a timely manner.”—
To create a bridge between the technology and the brick and mortar, SaluberMD has agreements with both hospitals as well as doctors in the United States and Europe now that will see customers in person in case of emergency. They are looking to expand to Latin America as well.
“For us, building the network of doctors was very important,” says Misan. “Having clinics and hospitals inside the loop of innovation is also very important for us. Unless they’re buying in, you will not be able to go in and get top-level service in a timely manner.”
