Medical Detectives for Undiagnosed Medical Issues - CROWDMED

How I Serve

I search for emerging companies, technologies, disruptive technologies, innovations, start-ups and up-starts. I’ll look to match potential problems… e.g. “plastic pollution” to solutions… e.g. 3D Printer for recycled plastic waste…for potential venture capitalists, angel investors, and online funders. I’ll also highlight a variety of topics including funding success stories, the environment, housing, medical, artificial intelligence, science, aging populations, disabled populations, social entrepreneurs, philanthropy, and topical news. I’m always searching for great people innovating, inventing, and doing, great things.

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The 411: Successfully Funded/Marketplace - CrowdMed - Giving People Access to Thousands of Medical Experts 

Found on: - https://wefunder.com/crowdmed
https://www.crowdmed.com/

CROWDMED

Crowdsourcing expertise to solve complex medical cases online

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We harness the wisdom of the crowds to help patients find the right path to a cure. Our community of expert Medical Detectives resolve challenging medical cases more quickly, accurately, and inexpensively than the traditional medical system. Patients who come to CrowdMed have wasted years and thousands of dollars bouncing from specialist to specialist, yet are still seeking answers. Now, they can access a community of thousands of medical experts all at once, online for a fraction of the price.

Jared Heyman

CEO, CROWDMED

OUR AMBITION

One-third of US families have suffered from a medical issue that remains undiagnosed after consulting 2 or more physicians. But our patients can submit their case to thousands of vetted medical detectives who collaborate to resolve it. Studies show we're more reliable, cheaper, and faster than the traditional medical system alone. We’ve already launched pilots with 3 major health insurance plans—including one of the country's largest—to bring CrowdMed to millions of patients at no extra charge.

KEY FACTS

• 1/3 of families have suffered from an unresolved medical issue after seeing 2+ physicians
• 20,000+ medical detectives have registered for CrowdMed
• 1500+ medical cases have been resolved on CrowdMed
• 28% reduction in medical costs for CrowdMed patients
• 3 paid pilots with major U.S. health plans

WE BRING THE EXPERTS TO THE PATIENTS

Our medical detectives discuss, collaborate, and help diagnose illnesses.

Our 20,000 medical detectives review the patient's symptoms and formulate consensus diagnostic and solution suggestions. The patient can take their final report to their preferred physician and start getting treated as soon as possible. They can spend their time healing instead of searching for answers.

Patients anonymously fill out an online questionnaire or use our concierge service.

Upload medical records, imaging and diagnostic test results.

10-20 Medical Detectives work alongside the case moderator to solve the case.

A final report for the patient to discuss with treating physicians.

How it Works: For Patients

How it Works: For Medical Detectives

WE'VE RESOLVED OVER 1500 MEDICAL CASES SO FAR

Our pilot programs with health plans will also expose us to millions of more patients.

We currently have a community of 20,000 registered medical detectives. We've reach a point where we're ready to scale our services with health plans and engage more of our medical detective community. Health plans will cover our services for their millions of patients in need.

Interview

CrowdMed is a website for harnessing the medical wisdom of crowds online. The media has called us a crowdsourced Doctor House. If a patient has a medical condition that is difficult to diagnose or difficult to resolve, they post their case on our site. We then have a community of thousands of medical experts—medical detectives—from all over the world who collaborate on our platform to solve the patient's case.

WF: What is CrowdMed? 

CrowdMed is a website for harnessing the medical wisdom of crowds online. The media has called us a crowdsourced Doctor House. If a patient has a medical condition that is difficult to diagnose or difficult to resolve, they post their case on our site. We then have a community of thousands of medical experts—medical detectives—from all over the world who collaborate on our platform to solve the patient's case.

WF: Can you tell us how does the platform work from the patient’s perspective? 

Patients register for an account on Crowdmed.com which only takes a couple minutes. They then complete our patient questionnaire where we ask them questions about their symptoms, their medical history, what medications they're taking, and all the details we need to understand their medical condition, in order to collect all the clues that our medical detectives might need. The patient can also upload medical records, their diagnostic test results, any other types of medical information that might be useful. All of this is done completely anonymously.

Once the patient has submitted their information, they then select one of our three service packages. The service packages vary in terms of which types of medical detectives may participate in the case, and also what level of cash reward is associated with their case. That cash reward, of course, helps attract our best and brightest detectives.

From there, the medical detectives may ask questions via chat, may ask for additional test results, or any type of detail on the patient's symptoms, they may ask the patient if certain diagnoses or treatments have been already attempted. They are trying to understand a patient's case and gather all information they might need. The patient will also start receiving diagnostic and solution suggestions from our community. They could even watch as the community debates why they think a certain diagnosis or solution is likely correct. All this happens with full transparency in front of the patient. At the end of the process when the patient feels they've had enough information, they take their case down, which is when their subscription fees stop accruing. They get a PDF format that summarizes all of the findings of their CrowdMed case which they have been instructed to share with their treating physician.

WF: What kind of patients come to you? 

Our patients come with a wide variety of different types of ailments. The one thing that all of our patients have in common is they've all seen at least a couple of physicians, yet they're still seeking answers. They don't have a diagnosis they think is the correct cause, so they don't have the correct treatment plan. While we do accept cases from a wide variety of different types, the two most common categories we see are either autoimmune or neurological. The reason for that is probably because these conditions are often very difficult to diagnose.

WF: What are the motivations of a medical detective? 

It's really a mix between financial and non-financial incentives. On the financial side, our top detectives make tens of thousands of dollars solving cases on our site. There is substantial money to be made by a high performing detective, based on performance. None of our incentives or cash rewards are based on participation -- it's all based on performance. The average cash reward on a given CrowdMed case is about $400. That money goes to the detective or detectives who performed best on that case.

When we survey the detectives they often say financial incentives are not their top motivation. They mention things like intellectual challenge and how CrowdMed provides interesting cases not often seen in clinical practice. Medical detectives also mention the learning aspect, how they really get to learn from their peers across different specialties and different geographies. They also mention altruism. They say that CrowdMed allows them to help patients very directly and without the headaches of clinical practice, worrying about liability, and dealing with insurance companies.

We've found engagement among the detectives to be pretty high if they're good. We've created an almost tournament structure, where anybody can sign up, but only the strongest survive. Our average detective participates in 50 or more cases over the course of their time on the site.

WE'VE RESOLVED OVER 1500 MEDICAL CASES SO FAR