Jumping to the very front of the line is the end game for any would-be disrupter, and HelloMD certainly shares that goal—both for itself and for its customers. Initially launched as a provider of telehealth services, the company now helps patients cut the proverbial line for appointments with top medical specialists via video link.Hadfield says that first iteration of HelloMD revealed to him not just how frustrated doctors are overall—that’s not exactly a secret—but also that doctors are as impatient about seeing patients as patients are about seeing them. HelloMD has disrupted the doctor/patient experience, then, by short-circuiting it. Doctors agree to give HelloMD patients priority scheduling status and patients agree to pay, an arrangement that often means agreeing to set aside health insurer restrictions in exchange for quick access. Hadfield notes that bypassing payers also gives doctors the freedom they crave. “Doctors don’t like to be put in a corner,” he says.
