In an effort to alleviate the administrative burden faced by GPs, Melbourne medical technology start-up, Heidi, has raised $10 million in a funding round led by venture capital fund Blackbird. Co-founded by doctor Thomas Kelly, former Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) analyst Waleed Mussa, and former Coles data scientist Yu Liu, the platform offers tools like speech-to-text and note-taking to assist GPs in reducing administrative work.
Kelly and Mussa first met while working at Fraser's Medical, a tutoring service for would-be medical students that operated out of a Brunswick laundromat. During his years in practice, Kelly noticed the overwhelming administrative work that hindered doctors from seeing more patients. "At least half of my time was spent doing things that I didn't really learn in medical school," Kelly said.
Michael Tolo, investment partner at Blackbird, lauded the team for its intellectual capacity and flexibility, stating that Heidi possesses the potential to become “the most delightful product in the market, not just in Australia but globally”.
The funding aims to further the start-up's mission to make healthcare more efficient by freeing doctors from time-consuming administrative tasks, thereby allowing them to focus more on patient care.
Heidi's solution also includes a pre-consultation form that helps clinicians prioritise patients while providing insights into their medical history. Although the platform doesn't offer clinical diagnosis, it does prompt practitioners to ask relevant questions based on a patient's health conditions.
The platform targets areas where there’s a predicted shortfall of healthcare providers, aiming to optimise the limited available resources. Kelly recounted his experience in regional clinics where patient demand far exceeded the number of available appointments, emphasising the urgency of administrative efficiency in healthcare settings.