Welcome back. We've all run into a
time where we've needed or our kids
have needed a doctor immediately,
but we couldn't get an appointment.
So one working mom developed as solution.
It's called solve health,
and in addition to being a huge timesaver,
it's actually had a big impact in the
fight against COVID right here in Seattle.
I chatted with the CEO and co-founder,
Heather Fernandez. As a
parent and a person who also uses
medical appointments, I love a shortcut.
I love anything that doesn't require
me logging into six different patient
portals to find the thing I need.
So I love the idea of self
help in your own words,
tell us what it's all about.
Thank you amity. I mean you are
not alone. I'm also a mom.
I happen to have three kids and trying to
get what I need for myself and my family.
Now when I need it became a priority in
the ten years prior to starting soles.
Once we got to the point where we thought
it is our time to start this company,
it was pretty obvious right?
And the the the mission.
The point of the company is how do
we reduce the stress of everyday
health care for every American across
the United States and that basically
comes down to three questions.
Where should I go for the problem I have?
Maybe that's on my couch for
a Tele Med appointment.
Maybe I'm going to walk when can I be seen?
Don't waste my time and 3rd and importantly,
how much will it cost me?
That's been our mission from the beginning
and we've built this national network.
Across the United States,
where today 100 million Americans
are within 5 miles of a bookable
same day appointment on Salw,
and I'm incredibly proud of that fact.
This is kind
of incredible to me,
because if I were to try to do
what your technology can do,
I mean it would take me 5 hours
probably to find an appointment I need.
So I mean, I got to imagine
during a time like COVID,
solve has been very, very
vital. I think a couple
of things to highlight.
One is, you can't just create an app.
On the consumer side,
and hope that the providers can
deliver at on that appointment when
it says it's available online.
So part of our investment overtime
has been empowering the provider
side with software that enables them
to deliver that experience to you,
the consumer.
Everything from making that online
availability real time available.
Communicating via SMS.
Digital paperwork for your insurance
card so you don't have to fill it out
for the 10th time when you go to the.
Physicians office enabling
that in a seamless way.
That's a big part of what we do
that consumers don't see, and then,
to your point, incomes COVID.
We've already built this national
network and so many communities
across the United States and really
everyday health care in 2020 was
COVID what we realized in many ways
was that COVID pulled the future
forward in American health care.
The first thing that we did is
we were in every community,
so we were second only to really CVS.
In terms of connecting consumers
with COVID testing and vaccines
in their communities,
and that was because the nature
of how we thought about our
national network second is COVID,
this changed our mental model right?
Whereas before,
if you called the doctor and you've got
an appointment three weeks from now,
he would feel so thankful.
Thank you for seeing me Doctor.
I'm glad that you can squeeze me in,
whereas COVID shifted that to really
mean availability now via telemedicine,
those consumer shifts.
In behavior and consumer
shifts in expectations,
I think are going to be what we start
seeing playing out over the next many
years as healthcare continues to
evolve. How about now
with going back to school?
What for solve what's top of mind with now?
The variant variant coming
into breakthrough infections?
Possibly back up shots?
What's top of mind for
solve right now I just
dropped my kids off to
school yesterday morning.
I will tell you my anxiety
was through the roof.
My kids were great,
had their masks on.
Going to see their friends having
the time of their lives so number
one is sharing information with
consumers around what is versus this
crazy Twitter war that seems to be
ensuing on every little step around.
The pandemic.
Second is availability of testing
just before this conversation
I was talking to a colleague
whose kid had a classroom where
someone was diagnosed with kovid.
She is very stressed she needs
to get her child and her family
tested and so enabling that
availability nationwide.
Building on top of what we
did in 2020 is another one of
our priorities.
But what about other things?
It's sportsman this and
like just Wellness checks.
I don't have a GP.
How can solve help me?
It's solved that
problem with a couple of taps on your phone.
You could have that telemedicine visit to
have your child's rash check to figure
out if you need to escalate and go to
a dermatologist and keep your kid home.
Or if they're fine,
which is typically the case,
you know to get that well,
check to get that lab for your A1C tests.
All of these everyday health care
needs are what we're building out
across the solid platform so that these
millions of people who have come to us,
whether it's for an everyday
health care need or through this
really stressful time of COVID,
can get more of those everyday health care
needs for themselves and their families met.
Answering those three questions.
Where should I go for the problem I have?
When can I be seen and how much does it cost?
And by by the way, Heather told
me that 60% of all COVID tests in
Seattle were managed through salt,
and that was in partnership with the
city and the University of Washington
and the Public Health department.
And if you'd like to learn more,
visit the website on your screen.
You can also find a link on the new website.
Well, summer is definitely not over.
So when we come back,
the toy guy and I are gonna play
with a bunch of toys that help
extend summer fun and keep those
minds sharp at the same time.
This portion of New Day Northwest
is sponsored by Solve Health.