"HealthSpot" is announcing a roll-out of its first 25 telemedicine kiosks in RiteAid's throughout Northeast Ohio. Watch video
CLEVELAND, Ohio - When Steve Cashman's 10-year-old daughter got swimmer's ear, he went from issues with paperwork at an Ohio pharmacy clinic to being sent to an urgent care, and back to the pharmacy for a prescription. And he couldn't help but think, "there has to be a better way" to deal with minor and common health conditions.
But unlike a lot of frustrated people, this Columbus resident is also a serial tech entrepreneur who happened to be on a six-month leave trying to figure out his next opportunity. His idea: Create telemedicine kiosks where retail pharmacy customers could engage with a certified medical provider through telemedicine.
Cashman knew exactly who to reach out to for help: Cleveland design firm Nottingham Spirk, who co-developed the HealthSpot kiosks.
"HealthSpot" is announcing a roll-out of its first 25 telemedicine kiosks throughout Northeast Ohio RiteAids. Four-years later, Cashman's company "HealthSpot" is announcing a roll-out of its first 25 telemedicine kiosks in RiteAid's throughout Northeast Ohio. HealthSpot stations offer access to medical care by pairing healthcare providers with videoconferencing and interactive medical devices. With cloud-based telemedicine software located in a 40-square-foot station, customers are instructed on how to use a stethoscope, an otoscope, a pulse oximeter and a magnascope.
"Our goal is to put these kiosks all across the United States," said Cashman. "We want them to be as prominent as ATM's."
It's a lofty goal for such a young company breaking into the complex medical industry. States have different laws. Doctors, health care organizations and consumers have to be open to using the new kiosks.
Still, Cashman is optimistic for good reason. He's already overcome two big hurdles that led to the soft launch of the 25 kiosks in Cleveland, Akron, Canton and Dayton.
"We've served approximately 5,000 customers through wellness checks and healthcare visits since May," Cashman said.
Customers ages 3 and older can be treated for minor and common health conditions, including cold and flu, rashes and skin conditions, earaches and seasonal allergies. A record of the visit is maintained for both customers and healthcare providers, and the software also interfaces with insurance eligibility, electronic medical records and billing systems.
Cashman said he's excited that many people who have used it so far during the beta launch are on Medicaid - which means that instead of a potential $600 emergency room visit, Medicaid insurance companies pay about $60.
"A lot of people don't have access to a doctor, so they're using the emergency room for their care when they're sick," Cashman said. "Ultimately the ER is a very expensive place to be if you only have a simple issue such as an ear infection."
FIRST HURDLE:
Healthspot encountered the company's first major hurdle two years ago. Medical laws in Ohio made it illegal to prescribe medicine unless patients were physically examined. Cashman's team went to the state's medical board in efforts to persuade them to change the law, because he believed his kiosks could meet and support their concerns for care standards. Some of the board members eventually saw the kiosk in person while others saw video and read more documents.
"They agreed and did a reinterpretation of the law ... adding an in-person exam, or a technology that offers the equivalent standard of care," he said.
SECOND HURDLE:
After working with Kaiser Permanente, the Cleveland Clinic and the Mayo Clinic to test the kiosks for about 18 months, Cashman was ready to approach a retailer. The kiosks had been installed in 10 medical facilities nationwide, in either urgent care centers or in hospital lobbies.
"We always wanted to be in pharmacies, but doctors wanted to see that it worked like we said it did first," Cashman said. "They tested them for more than a year and saw that people liked it and the doctors liked it. We got reports of 98 percent patient satisfaction and 99 percent doctor satisfaction."
In November, RiteAid announced plans to partner with HealthSpot.
Robert Thompson, executive vice president of pharmacy at RiteAid, said with a retail chain of about 4,560 stores, including several hundred in Ohio, the company is always looking for new opportunities to serve customers. They do that in all sorts of ways, including nurse practitioner staffed clinics. And in recent years, they've looked at various telemedicine options, but had not seen anything at the level of HealthSpot kiosks.
"Frankly telemedicine and telehealth has been evolving in the last several years. A number of companies throughout the United States are trying to develop online solutions, but HealthSpot, we thought was at a level above others," Thompson said.
"Once we reviewed their technology we thought this would fit appropriately," he said,
Thompson said he was especially impressed with the kiosk design.
"No. 1, the design is elegant and it's private with technology inside the kiosk that has very high quality instruments to assist with a diagnosis. That technology is integrated into the whole experience. Everything is recorded for physicians and patients," he said.
Thompson said he's also encouraged by the beta launch with thousands of patients using telemedicine for the first time for both wellness and sick visits. And he applauded Cashman's entrepreneurial efforts in working so hard to build relationships with so many different areas of the medical community. Thompson said the kiosks should appeal to both people who have coverage and cash-paying customers.
"We believe that as we move forward in the changing healthcare environment in our country we need to offer more health and wellness solutions for our customers," Thompson said.