Meet The Texas Startup Powering Telehealth | Forbes

Summary

The script discusses the surge in venture capital investment in health tech, shifting from direct-to-consumer to backend infrastructure. Wheel, a digital health company founded by Michelle Davey, offers a staffing solution and backend technology for telemedicine, akin to a gig economy, matching patients with licensed providers across states. With a personal connection to healthcare challenges, Davey aims to revolutionize access to care. Wheel has raised $66 million, with an estimated 2020 revenue of $8 million, anticipating significant growth as the backend for one million patient visits.

Takeaways

• 💡 Venture capital investment in health tech is shifting from direct-to-consumer to back-end infrastructure solutions.
• 🔄 Wheel is a digital health company offering both staffing and back-end technology to support telemedicine practices.
• 📍 Wheel operates like a gig economy solution, matching patients with licensed healthcare providers across different states.
• 🛠 The 'white-labeled' technology of Wheel allows other companies to offer telemedicine services without branding Wheel's involvement.
• 👩‍💼 Michelle Davey, the founder of Wheel, stands out as a female founder and CEO in the health tech industry.
• 🏥 Davey's personal background with an autoimmune condition and rural healthcare challenges inspired her to innovate in healthcare access.
• 🌱 Wheel was founded in Austin, Texas, leveraging local talent and the city's status as a tech hub, despite initial advice to move to Silicon Valley.
• 📈 Pre-pandemic, Wheel anticipated a supply and demand imbalance in virtual care, which became evident with the pandemic's onset.
• 🚀 The company has raised $66 million and expects significant growth, aiming to support one million patient visits, a fivefold increase from 2020.
• 🔑 There's a growing opportunity for companies like Wheel as the healthcare industry moves towards more back-end software solutions.

Q & A

What is the current trend in venture capital investment in the health tech industry?

The trend is shifting from direct-to-consumer companies to investing in the backend infrastructure of health tech, which deals with administrative problems.

What are the two main components of the digital health company Wheel?

The two components are a staffing component and back-end technology that allows other companies to establish their own telemedicine practices.

How does Wheel's staffing component function in relation to patients needing medical assistance?

It operates like a gig economy solution, matching patients with the appropriate licensed medical providers based on their specific needs.

What is the 'white labeled' aspect of Wheel's back-end technology?

It allows other companies to offer telemedicine services using Wheel's technology without displaying Wheel's branding.

Who is the founder of Wheel, and what makes her unique in the health tech industry?

Michelle Davey is the founder, and she stands out as a woman founder and CEO in the health tech industry, focusing on backend enterprise solutions for other digital health companies.

What personal experience influenced Michelle Davey's decision to enter the healthcare industry?

Michelle grew up in a rural area of Texas and went undiagnosed with an autoimmune condition for over 15 years, which emphasized the importance of access to care.

Why did Michelle Davey choose to build Wheel in Austin, Texas, instead of Silicon Valley?

She chose Austin due to her personal background and the access to care issues in Texas, as well as the availability of local talent from various industries.

How did the pandemic affect the healthcare industry and Wheel's business?

The pandemic accelerated the adoption of telehealth and virtual care, solidifying the need for backend solutions like those provided by Wheel.

What was the estimated revenue of Wheel in 2020, and what is the expected growth?

The estimated revenue in 2020 was 8 million dollars, with expectations of significant growth, aiming to be the backend for one million patient visits, five times the number in 2020.

What challenges did Wheel face in convincing people about the new way of building healthcare?

Wheel had to convince people that virtual healthcare was a viable and necessary new approach in the healthcare industry, especially since most of their customers had been delivering virtual healthcare for less than two years.

What does the future hold for companies like Wheel in the health tech industry?

There is a lot of opportunity for explosive growth in the backend software space, as the industry is moving towards more digital and virtual healthcare solutions.