That’s how Sherpaa founder Jay Parkinson, MD, describes his company, which he founded in 2012, according to STAT.
While completing his residency at Baltimore-based JohnsHopkinsUniversity, many of Dr. Parkinson’s uninsured friends would email him with medical questions. By 2007, Dr. Parkinson set up his first practice in Brooklyn, N.Y. — but it didn’t mimic the traditional model of a practice. Instead, it was a website with Dr. Parkinson’s biography, cell phone number and his schedule on a Google calendar. Patients could set up appointments online and get a visit from Dr. Parkinson for $100. The practice was wildly successful — the site received 7.5 million views in its first month of operation.
Five years later, Dr. Parkinson had launched several other startups but was looking to return to his initial idea of making primary care accessible. While discussing the concept with his friend David Karp, the founder of Tumblr, Mr. Karp allegedly asked him, “Why don’t you try it at Tumblr?”
So that’s what Dr. Parkinson did. “That’s how Sherpaa got started,” he said. “It was essentially an email address that Tumblr employees could use. A doctor would answer them and then treat them, or arrange care for them.”
Today, New York-based Sherpaa serves approximately 150 companies. Patients communicate via messaging with one of 10 full-time physicians on staff.
In September, Sherpaa began offering its services directly to individuals rather than through their employer. Patients pay $40 per month to communicate via app, email or text with their physician, who can make referrals, prescribe medication and order lab tests.
However, because a 2013 JAMA Internal Medicine study showed online physicians are more likely to prescribe antibiotics to patients, some believe Sherpaa may be hindering primary care.
“Usually, we’ve thought about this kind of interaction as really helpful as a supplement to seeing a doctor in person,” instead of a substitute for a primary care physician, said Ateev Mehrotra, MD, an associate professor of health policy at Boston-based Harvard Medical School.
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