The startup Dr. Consulta aims to capitalize the demand for affordable services on demand from the growing number of Brazilians who do not have private health insurance. It has proven to be an attractive proposition. which attracted investors such as the multi-billionaire co-founder of 3G Capital, Jorge Paulo Lemann, and venture capital firms such as Kaszek Ventures and Madrone Capital Partners.
“Unfortunately, Brazil’s public system does not work,” Dr. Consulta’s executive director Thomaz Srougi said in an interview. “We believe that our model can be applied anywhere in Latin America and North America to solve the health crisis. which has been increasing as people get older.”
The company’s service
The company’s service offerings include a blood test for 16 reais and a full abdominal ultrasound for 160 reais. According to the Dr. Consulta website, the most required medical appointments are with a gynecologist is 115 reais, a psychiatrist is160 reais and a dermatologist is120 reais. Patients can reserve a consultation with a cardiologist for 140 reais.
With the increase in unemployment in the last three years, the number of people with access to private health care plans decreases. Only about 25 percent of the country has private coverage. As of December last year, 47.3 million people had insurance, compared to 50.4 million in December 2014. This is according to data from Brazil’s national health agency.
“The number of people who lose their private health care plan in Brazil is important and the country is aging, which increases the need for treatment,” said Luciano Campos, a former health care analyst at Bradesco BBI, in a telephone interview. . “Dr. Consulta is not regulated, it’s not a health plan, it just solves people’s problems, it found a void in the market.”
No sin of novice
Dr. Consulta opened its first unit in 2011 in Heliopolis of Sao Paulo, the tenth most populated slum in Brazil. He kept only one consultation during the first three years. “We knew that if we were successful in Heliopolis, we would have success in Sao Paulo,” Srougi said. “We had to learn to solve problems, spend less.”
About 30 percent of appointments are scheduled through the Dr. Consulta application, which allows the company to reduce its call center staff, Srougi explained. In addition, the startup has developed its own software to collect patient information. Doctors receive a list of procedures for each treatment and are deducted from compensation if they recommend unnecessary tests.
“This helps improve the patient experience and reduce costs,” Srougi said. “The more we use technology in the operation, the cheaper it is for patients.”
One million patients
Dr. Consulta currently has more than 1 million patients and 2,000 doctors in 60 locations serve 200,000 people each month. After Sao Paulo, the firm inaugurated its first consultation in Rio de Janeiro and also expanded to Belo Horizonte. Before this year, Dr. Consulta had raised US $ 100 million from foreign funds, as well as Brazilian and American doctors. And the company is moving towards its goal of raising another US $ 100 million.
“We have seen a high level of interest from the Americans,” said Srougi, who declined to give more details about the company’s long-term plans in the US.
Expansion abroad is also in the minds of investors. “At the end of the day, every country in the world wants more affordable and better quality medical care,” said Hernan Kazah, co-founder and managing partner of Kaszek Ventures.