A Tallahassee startup wants to make visits to the doctor a little easier. WellConnector is an app that replaces the paperwork patients have to fill out before visits with new doctors.
Over the past year, Allison Aubuchon found herself visiting new doctor after new doctor while trying to find solutions for an ongoing health concern.
“I was getting to the bottom of a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis and that was causing me to see multiple new doctors, rheumatologists, neurologists, and within a short period of time having to fill out that new patient paperwork over and over again was physically challenging because I was experiencing carpal tunnel from the inflammation, and that just opened my eyes to if I’m having trouble with this, how much harder must it be for somebody with a different disability," said Aubuchon who is co-founder of WellConnector.
Aubuchon said filling out information about medical history, allergies or medications can be difficult for many such as parents who have children with them in the waiting room or for people who are experiencing memory loss. As she filled out the same information again and again with each new doctor visit, she realized there must be a better solution.
“It’s a lot of layers of something that could be easily provided through an app. It’s 2022 and you have all of these fancy apps that can do just about anything you can imagine, but we’re still filling out new patient paperwork and then going across the street to see a new provider and doing it all over again,” Aubuchon said.
Aubuchon said her hope is that WellConnector could streamline the process for patients as well as medical staff. Right now, typically a staff member has to enter handwritten information into the software the practices uses to collect patient data. Some of the notes might be hard to read and that takes time away that staff could be spending on patient care.
Aubuchon is partnering with Eddie Gonzalez Loumiet and his IT firm Ruvos to create WellConnector. The app is expected to allow patients to input data once and then communicate with the different platforms physician practices are already using. The group is also working to partner with local providers.
“In order for this to really work it has to be local because health care really is such a local thing in most cases you’re not going around the state or around the country. You’re seeing the providers in your community," Aubuchon said.
Abuchon said her group hopes to work closely with providers to tailor the app to fit the needs of varying types of practices.
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