DocbookMD

DocbookMD originated from a moment of frustration experienced by its founders, the husband-and-wife physician team of Dr. Tim Gueramy, an orthopedic surgeon, and Dr. Tracey Haas, a family practitioner. Founded in 2008, the company was born out of their desire to create a more efficient and secure method for physician communication, sparked by the inefficiencies of the traditional pager system. Located in Austin, Texas, DocbookMD developed a HIPAA-compliant mobile and web application designed to facilitate real-time, secure communication among medical professionals.

The core of DocbookMD's service is a secure messaging platform that allows physicians and their care teams to send encrypted text messages, as well as share high-resolution images such as X-rays and EKGs. This functionality addresses the critical need for rapid and confidential information exchange in clinical settings. The platform ensures security by encrypting data on the user's device, transmitting it to secure servers, and only allowing access to authenticated DocbookMD subscribers. Beyond one-to-one messaging, the application also provides a directory of physicians from partner medical societies, contact information for local pharmacies, and the ability for large groups to communicate internally.

DocbookMD's business model initially centered on offering its application free of charge to members of affiliated county and state medical societies, with a fee for non-members. This strategy was supported by sponsorships from medical liability companies and partnerships with organizations like MAP Communications for secure answering services. The company secured $4.2 million in funding over two angel rounds. In November 2018, DocbookMD was acquired by Medici, a telehealth company, which assumed its technical assets and customer contracts. This acquisition integrated DocbookMD's secure messaging capabilities into Medici's broader telehealth platform, which includes features like virtual patient consultations, e-prescribing, and in-app billing.

Keywords: HIPAA-compliant messaging, physician communication, secure medical texting, healthcare collaboration, clinical communication platform, mobile health, telehealth, medical app, physician directory, care team coordination, secure image sharing, electronic health records, patient data security, medical society partnership, healthtech, digital health, care coordination, clinical workflow, medical information exchange, telemedicine