82.1 F
San Fernando
Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Tech Startup Targets Health Providers

Dr. Celia Brown, owner of Skin Renaissance in Woodland Hills, has launched her own tech startup specifically for health care professionals. Doc2Doc Connect rents out medical equipment and office space for physicians and health specialists via its website, www.Doc2DocConnect.com, where those offering various services and products can link up with those seeking them. The site also allows users to post job openings for needed staff, and for prospective workers to post resumés. The team, consisting of Brown and Nikki Benzimra, chief operating officer, currently have an app and mobile version of the website in the works. They also plan on expanding beyond California, Nevada and Washington to break into East Coast states – Florida is high on the list, Brown said. She quickly noted how expensive it is to purchase needed medical equipment. And she realized smaller practices and specialists prefer renting rather than buying equipment. “Typically, aesthetic laser manufacturers charge $100,000 to $150,000 for their machines,” said Brown. “I thought, there has to be a way to make this better. I just thought about AirBnB and Uber, and I thought, why don’t we just share them?” Once health care professionals got word that Doc2Doc rented equipment, they soon started asking about space and talent, with the increasing trend to meet patients where they live and work. “Traffic has become so terrible that no one wants to drive out to see their favorite physical therapist in Santa Monica,” said Brown. “I’m aware that often (specialists) want to rent space. They want to work one day in the Valley, or two days a week in Santa Monica. Finding those connections is incredibly difficult. You have to know a person. There’s no platform for that. The same goes for massage therapists and aestheticians, and even chiropractors and physical therapists.” Some doctors in Beverly Hills use the site to avoid high rental fees; realtors and manufacturers also turn to Doc2Doc for services. “We have a processing fee that is attached to rentals and sales,” said Benzimra. Listings are free currently, but the team plans on charging for this in future. Brown hopes the platform will help health care professionals take care of back office duties quickly and efficiently, focusing more on patient care. “I thought it would solve this problem of health care practices and physicians being in debt, working too hard, not getting paid enough, getting frustrated and getting burned out and retiring early,” explained Brown. “It doesn’t seem like a good situation, especially for patients. If your doctor is tired and burned out, that’s not good for you.” Brown will continue to own and operate Skin Renaissance while running Doc2Doc, tending to each business equally: “I get up really early. I work on my other things for Doc2Doc in the morning and see patients in the afternoon. It’s a nice balance for me, to be honest.”

Featured Articles

Related Articles