Opportunity Analysis & Execution Project

Concept
Sync Doctor is the next generation of interactive Personal Health Records (PHR). At the present time, PHRs serve as an electronic repository of the personal health data of patients. Many PHRs are dependent on patient entry of data meaning that they are fraught with inaccuracies and are composed of a colorful blend of layman’s terms and inappropriate uses of medical terminology. Sending this compilation of patient data to a physician’s office is helpful, but is heavily reliant on the trained medical professional to extract the key facts from fiction and translate it into the physician medical record in a concise format utilizing correct medical terminology. This is both time-consuming and potentially dangerous as the translated medical history is hardly free from errors.

The dawning era of virtually all medical records in the United States being digitized by 2014 into Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) through government mandate has presented an opportunity to take PHRs to the next level. Sync Doctor would allow key patient medical information to be extracted from the physician EMR and imported to the PHR where it can be stored, updated, and shared with anyone involved in the care of an individual patient as authorized by the patient. This is a patient centric platform that facilitates the collection and transfer of reliable protected health information (PHI) and eases the burden of time spent filling out forms and re-entering of data on both sides of the examination table.

Market
Our target market is the U.S. healthcare industry – patients and their legal representatives, hospitals, physician offices, pharmacies, labs, imaging centers, ancillary testing centers, etc. With the passage of the 2009 Federal stimulus package, $19 billion has been earmarked to offset the cost of implementing electronic medical record systems, now in use by only about 8 percent of the nation's 5,000 hospitals and 17 percent of its 800,000 physicians.

As healthcare costs continue to soar, insurance payors are evaluating alternative reimbursement models for hospitals and physicians. Beginning in 2012, Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) will tie reimbursement to patient outcomes rather than to the current fee-for-service model. This will necessarily place an increasing pressure on patients to be more proactive in their healthcare as physicians will be penalized when treating patients who have poor outcomes.

Customers
We will target caregivers and patients with medical problems, but gain traction in the market by appealing to the healthcare providers with our ability to transmit accurate health information seamlessly into their EHRs. As an intuitive, un-tethered, interoperable PHR platform, Sync Doctor will enable patients to seamlessly access, store, and share PHI in an efficient, accurate, and secure manner.

Business Model
Sync Doctor offers patients the flexibility of collecting, storing, and sharing their PHI through our interoperative, untethered platform. Our intuitive user interface will attract consumers whom we will charge a nominal fee to store and secure their PHI. We plan to offer a basic “free” plan for a limited amount of storage. For consumers who need more storage, we will offer tiered pricing of plans. Though we would never jeopardize the privacy and security of our clients’ PHI, Sync Doctor will reserve the right to sell de-identified data in the future as a secondary revenue stream with a paid “opt out” in place for those who would object.

Competition
PHRs have not yet gained widespread market adoption. Currently, there are a number of PHRs on the market, most of which rely largely on patient entry of medical data to create the individual PHR. Some have advanced to allow pharmacy records and laboratory results to be imported from a limited array of partner companies. Many of these currently either partner with Microsoft Vault where data is stored in a “cloud” or are tethered to the patient portals built into physician or hospital owned EHR servers. Transmission of this data is in the form of a PDF document that can be printed, emailed, or faxed to members of the healthcare team.

As PHRs are largely in their first generation, they fail to truly harness the potential for improving the efficiency and accuracy of the health information they store. By offering a more innovative product, Sync Doctor hopes to attract customers by offering them a convenient and cost-effective way of empowering them take control of their health information.

Summary
Sync Doctor is the next generation in PHRs. With the federally mandated adoption of EHRs in physician and hospital practices by 2014, the potential for growth and adoption of Sync Doctor by patients and providers alike is tremendous. By providing the interface through which key elements of patient health information can flow between different EHR platforms, Sync Doctor will be the first PHR to provide a reliable and efficient exchange of data in an automated, patient-controlled fashion.