Here are five things to know about Nurse-1-1:
1. App users can send a text chat to a clinician to learn basic information about a medical issue they’re experiencing, such as its severity, and determine whether it requires a visit to a physician’s office, emergency room or urgent care. The startup was born out of the idea that the first piece of information patients tend to want is what level of care they need, according to TechCrunch.
2. The service, which is available online and through an iOS app, was immediately able to launch across the U.S., since it is not prescribing medications or diagnosing conditions. Instead, it simply triages patients to the appropriate area of care.
3. The service is free to use if a patient’s provider is signed up for Nurse-1-1. No providers have signed up yet, according to Mr. Sheeley, but he told TechCrunch these discussions are underway. For patients whose providers are not on the app, the cost is $12.50 per chat — much less than standard telehealth visits, which tend to be around $49 when out-of-pocket.
4. Mr. Sheeley began developing Nurse-1-1 around two years ago, after the birth of his daughter. His daughter was born with a congenital heart defect, which required her to have open-heart surgery.
“I was sitting next to her for a week while she was recovering in the hospital … and I was Google searching everything and anything I could to learn about her condition,” he told TechCrunch. However, he soon became confused trying to parse through the health information available online, and started texting his questions to his wife’s friend Kim Liner, a nurse practitioner.
5. Today, Ms. Liner serves as the head nurse practitioner at Nurse-1-1, alongside the rest of the startup’s team, which is currently based out of Harvard Innovation Labs in Allston, Mass. One-hundred ninety nurses are now on the platform.
More articles on telehealth:
Doctor On Demand adds new CFO, VP of medical affairs, policy lead
Apple teams up with Zimmer Biomet to support postoperative recovery
1 in 3 patients would use a virtual assistant to guide care, Deloitte finds
