Thought Leaders in Mobile and Social: Peter Hudson, Founder of iTriage (Part 2)

SM: And how are people using the technology? A download is one thing. Actual use is quite another thing.

PH: We track that pretty closely, and we probably have some pretty surprising results. We retain close to 70% of all downloads, and we know that based on updates and unique users. And then we have quite a few active users in relation to downloads. We’re over the 20% range, and people tend to use it multiple times a month. When they do use it, they use 30 to 60 page views.

They’re actually going through a fair amount of information trying to learn about whatever is bothering them, whether it’s a new medication they were given, a procedure they were told they needed, a symptom they can’t figure out, a condition they need to talk to a doctor about, or just conduct a provider search. People use it in all of those different ways. They’ll look through a lot of information and, generally, end in a provider search.

We help connect people to the right kinds of providers in a context driven environment. We give them the tools to figure out what’s most cost-effective for what they’re experiencing.

SM: If I gathered this right, most of the consumer use is happening in terms of trying to find reference material on specific conditions, medications, or diseases, yes?

PH: Yes, those are few places where people start.

SM: You said that you are helping people find providers in a context specific way. Would you talk a bit more about how you do that? Where are the data coming from? How do you accumulate or aggregate that data? How do you tie that into your reference material, and how does that connect to the insurance information?

PH: We have two parts to our product, at least on the mobile: the content that’s on the mobile device and the content that is behind the scenes on the servers. We have accumulated probably the broadest provider database out there from every doctor by specialty, location, phone number, and so on.

SM: That’s my question. What is the process of getting that data together?

PH: Lots of hard work. We have an entire content management system and content management team and many different sources of content.

SM: Can you elaborate?

PH: Well, there are national sources like our community health centers, our FQHDs, our SAMSA data, which is mental health and substance abuse centers, are all through our public-private partnership with the government, our national practitioner database. Part of it comes from the NPI database. Part of it comes from our parent company now, Aetna. And then we have an ongoing process of auditing and curating that data, and also taking inbound information from providers who may have moved or they’re phone numbers are incorrect or their addresses. There’s no gold standard out there, no matter what anybody tells you.

SM: The data are extremely fragmented, which is why I’m asking the question. It’s not a straightforward problem to solve, to aggregate this kind of data.

PH: It’s more of a process than anything. The goal is to have the best provider database. The only way to reach that goal is to have an ongoing process.

SM: It’s a cumbersome, tedious process.

PH: Yes. If you were a doctor, and you wrote in and said, “My phone number’s wrong,” you would get a response from us, usually that same day, and for sure, within 24 hours. Then our database would be updated almost immediately. We have pretty high standards in terms of our responsiveness. The same thing for adding insurance providers. And we have nurse advise lines for almost every insurance product out there within the application.

SM: What have you learned in terms of being in the market since 2009 through the early days of the app store and health care apps on mobile phones and so forth? What other interesting nuggets have you uncovered?

PH: The most interesting thing for me, being a doctor – I’ve owned a lot of different companies, a lot that were service related. Being a products company is something special, but only if you treat your product as special and listen to your audience, be responsive to that audience, and continually try to improve and enhance your product and make it the best product you can.

This segment is part 2 in the series : Thought Leaders in Mobile and Social: Peter Hudson, Founder of iTriage
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