Doxy.me

Doxy.me (pronounced "doc-see-me") is a web-based telemedicine platform designed specifically for healthcare providers to conduct video consultations with patients. Doxy.me is known for its simplicity and ease of use.[1]

History

Doxy.me was founded in 2013 by Brandon Welch while he was a PhD student in Biomedical Informatics at the University of Utah.[2] The platform was initially developed to provide a simple and free, HIPAA-compliant telemedicine app for obstetricians to use in a remote prenatal care study. At the time, there were no available solutions that met these criteria, so Welch, along with fellow student Dylan Turner, built the first version of doxy.me using the newly released WebRTC framework.[3] Much of the early development of doxy.me was funded by winning several student innovation awards, including "Best Business Plan" in the 2014 Utah Entrepreneur Challenge.[4][5]

Launched to the public in 2014, doxy.me experienced steady growth reaching 80,000 healthcare providers by the start of 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly accelerated the platform's adoption, with the number of users growing to 700,000 within two months.[6][7] As of 2024, approximately 1.3 million healthcare providers worldwide have conducted over 400 million sessions on doxy.me, accounting for nearly 10 billion minutes of telehealth.[8][9] Doxy.me is widely adopted across various healthcare settings.[10]

Features

Doxy.me is popular among healthcare providers due to its simplicity,[11] quick implementation,[12] clinical workflows,[13] and availability of free and low-cost versions. Doxy.me offers a set of features that replicate clinical workflows in a remote environment, including:

  • Video Conferencing: Secure, private real-time video meetings between healthcare providers and patients.
  • Patient Check-In: A streamlined process allowing patients to check in for their appointments.
  • Patient Queue: A system to manage multiple patients, similar to a traditional waiting room queue.
  • Virtual Waiting Room: A virtual space where patients wait for their consultation, with options for custom branding.
  • Patient Transfer: Allows seamless transfer of patients between different healthcare providers within the platform.
  • Custom Branding: Options for healthcare providers to customize the platform's interface to reflect their brand identity.

In addition to these core features, doxy.me offers apps that extend its functionality including teleconsent, a feature developed with NIH SBIR funding,[14][15] screenshare, whiteboard, file transfer, payments.

Privacy and security

Doxy.me takes a data-lean approach to privacy and security.[16] The platform does not collect or store patient health information,[17] only the healthcare provider knows the patient's identity, which ensures patient privacy and security through anonymity.[18] This approach, combined with compliance with HIPAA, GDPR, and HITECH regulations, makes doxy.me a trusted platform for secure telehealth consultations. HIPAA compliance is included in the free version.

One study found that nationwide use of doxy.me in 2021-2022 resulted in an approximate annual CO2 emissions savings of 1,443,800 metric tons.[19]

Founder and CEO, Brandon M Welch, MS, PhD, co-authored the book Telehealth Success: How to Thrive in the New Age of Remote Care.

See also

References

  1. ^ Agnisarman, Sruthy Orozhiyathumana; Chalil Madathil, Kapil; Smith, Kevin; Ashok, Aparna; Welch, Brandon; McElligott, James T. (January 2017). "Lessons learned from the usability assessment of home-based telemedicine systems". Applied Ergonomics. 58: 424–434. doi:10.1016/j.apergo.2016.08.003. ISSN 1872-9126. PMID 27633239.
  2. ^ "Spotlight Interview: Brandon Welch, MS, PhD, Founder & CEO, Doxy.me – Medical Travel & Digital Health News". 2024-04-23. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
  3. ^ "U Telehealth Startup Doxy.me Booms During Pandemic". lassonde.utah.edu. 10 September 2020.
  4. ^ Norton, Jerry (2014-04-16). "One tasty entry: Cowboy Kolaches wins Utah Entrepreneur Challenge 2014". The David Eccles School of Business. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
  5. ^ "Doxy.me Turning Risk into Reward". lassonde.utah.edu. 31 December 2017.
  6. ^ "Telemedicine 'adoption curve changed overnight' Doxy.me added thousands of providers". Yahoo Finance. 2020-05-01. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
  7. ^ Alsever, Jennifer (2021-05-18). "These telehealth startups became global powerhouses overnight". Utah Business. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
  8. ^ "Geared for Growth: Doxy.me Connecting Providers and Patients Through Telehealth Solutions". Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce. 2024-03-13. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
  9. ^ "About Us". Doxy.me. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
  10. ^ Alsever, Jennifer (2021-05-18). "These telehealth startups became global powerhouses overnight". Utah Business. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
  11. ^ Welch, Brandon. "Council Post: Focus On The Features That Make Your Product Uniquely Useful". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
  12. ^ Mensik, Hailey. "Providers scramble for telehealth, pick Microsoft, Zoom and doxy.me in pandemic's early days". Healthcare Dive. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
  13. ^ "KLAS: Teladoc, Epic report widest breadth of telehealth capabilities". Healthcare IT News. 2021-05-21. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
  14. ^ Welch, Brandon M.; Marshall, Elizabeth; Qanungo, Suparna; Aziz, Ayesha; Laken, Marilyn; Lenert, Leslie; Obeid, Jihad (2016-03-31). "Teleconsent: A novel approach to obtain informed consent for research". Contemporary Clinical Trials Communications. 3: 74–79. doi:10.1016/j.conctc.2016.03.002. ISSN 2451-8654. PMC 5096381. PMID 27822565.
  15. ^ "RePORT ⟩ RePORTER". reporter.nih.gov. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
  16. ^ "At Doxy.me, simplicity is key to telehealth security". Healthcare IT News. 2020-06-01. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
  17. ^ "Privacy Not Included". foundation.mozilla.org.
  18. ^ Winsa, Patty (2024-03-18). "Could your health data be stored on U.S. servers? Lawsuit tests Ontario's privacy safeguards". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2024-08-30.
  19. ^ Cummins, Mollie R.; Shishupal, Sukrut; Wong, Bob; Wan, Neng; Han, Jiuying; Johnny, Jace D.; Mhatre-Owens, Amy; Gouripeddi, Ramkiran; Ivanova, Julia; Ong, Triton; Soni, Hiral; Barrera, Janelle; Wilczewski, Hattie; Welch, Brandon M.; Bunnell, Brian E. (2024-05-15). "Travel Distance Between Participants in US Telemedicine Sessions With Estimates of Emissions Savings: Observational Study". Journal of Medical Internet Research. 26 e53437. doi:10.2196/53437. ISSN 1438-8871. PMC 11137427. PMID 38536065.
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