CIO Bulletin

Opear MD — Keeping people safe through telehealth and house calls

Over the course of the pandemic, we collectively became more diligent about avoiding unnecessary germ exposure - especially at the doctor’s office itself. Healthcare facilities are designed to get us well, but the fear of COVID-19 inspired patients to embrace digital health at unprecedented rates. Often, they are finding, telehealth is a safer, more convenient, and more affordable solution to receive treatment in the comfort of your own home.

One of the digital health providers at the forefront of this shift is Opear MD, an app for on-demand house calls and telehealth appointments. Opear offers on-demand access to a network of the country’s top doctors, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants, whether you need an antibiotic prescription at 9pm or a strep test without worrying your waiting room ‘neighbor’ is carrying the Delta variant.

But rather than seeking to eliminate in-person healthcare, Opear MD operates as an extension of the traditional doctor’s office. The company believes that healthcare is a partnership between providers, patients, and communities and prioritizes the safety and experience of everyone within this system mutually. Using technology to power remote care, their mission is to offer more convenient and compassionate care while prioritizing healthcare professionals’ physical and emotional well-being.

We interviewed Michael Demetriou, CEO of Opear MD, to know more about the company and its services. Here are a few excerpts from that conversation:

Q. What are the challenges you had to face while developing solutions for Opear? How did you overcome them?

The biggest technical challenge for Opear was streamlining a ton of complex functionality into a simple user experience. Opear is a full-service platform; we offer multiple filters to search for providers, in-app appointment booking, EMR integration, rideshare, and even video appointments themselves take place in the app.

Finding the right partner to bring this huge vision to life was almost as complex as building the app itself, but our technical team is fast, nimble, and always a step ahead of the industry. We are in a great place where we aren’t just worried about day-to-day bug fixes. We are dreaming up new features as fast as healthtech advancements can keep up.

Q. How does your solution align with the existing medical practice?

I always say that Opear is an extension of brick-and-mortar medicine, not a replacement. There are times when virtual care or a house call are the fastest, safest, or most convenient way to get care. But certain tests and treatments require specialized equipment or a fully stocked and staffed facility. There’s no getting around it. One of the most unique things about Opear is that traditional practices can actually use the app to offer certain services online or in a patient’s home. So patients and providers can maintain those relationships and still enjoy the convenience of telehealth.

The app also helps offset the epidemic of burnout among medical professionals. There’s this trend of “assembly line medicine” where providers are taking half a dozen appointments in an hour, and it’s as frustrating for them as it is for patients. For brick and mortar practices, adding a telehealth option can dramatically reduce the in-office clutter. For independent practitioners, apps like Opear can help doctors spread out their appointments, spend more time with the patients who need it, and work on their own terms.

Q. Tell us in brief about the new revenue streams generated by your solutions.

One of the most exciting new expansion opportunities for Opear is concierge medicine. The pandemic made the world think differently about shared, public spaces, especially the ones where we’re spending the bulk of our time.

I happen to be a veteran of the commercial real estate industry, which has allowed us to form relationships with the owners of multifamily buildings, offices, and hotels. Very soon, we’ll be able to offer group memberships as a healthy amenity for tenants, employees, and guests. A low-cost amenity for owners, the B2B group accounts for Opear and healthier spaces for the public. Everybody wins.

Q. Many hospitals are focused on the financial aspect of health care and not the quality outcomes. How do you maintain the affordability of your solutions for mass adoption?

Generally, telehealth doctors are employed full time and work on-call, seeing patients in the order they dial-in. It can feel robotic, transactional, but Opear is just the opposite.

Healthcare providers subscribe to Opear the way any other business would purchase software as a service. We’re not an employer but a platform that enables providers to grow or launch a digital practice and have ongoing relationships with new and existing patients. Because they pay this membership, we don’t need to take a cut of exam fees, and high volume providers’ memberships quickly pay for themselves. The result is a win-win that’s profitable for Opear and providers without passing along the cost to patients.

Q. In cases where patients are using on-demand telemedicine services that connect them with a random healthcare provider, care continuity suffers. How do you overcome this?

Truly, the biggest limitation of telehealth is the random pairing of patients and providers because even “one-off” illnesses can be part of a bigger picture. A rash could be due to an unknown allergy. A stomachache, if recurring, might point to food intolerance. It just can’t fall on patients to share their entire health history or know the specialized medical insights that their provider would need to know. A provider that’s familiar with your medical history - coupled with an app that offers EMR integration - allows doctors to connect the dots and see patterns that could otherwise be missed.

Q. How would you describe your leadership style? And which supporting skills do you think are most important when it comes to leadership?

I’m all about the big vision - being future-focused and micromanaging can’t go hand in hand. It’s essential to trust your people but to do that, you have to trust your own judgment. Surround yourself with people that are smart, talented, and, most importantly, understand what you’re trying to accomplish. When your team is bought in, they feel a sense of ownership and understand that they’re not checking off tasks but taking steps to move the business forward.

If you’re clear and confident in your vision, you will attract a team that shares it and feel much more comfortable trusting them to help you achieve it.

Q. What are you doing to ensure you continue to grow and develop as a leader?

Effective leaders don’t see their businesses in a silo. It takes creativity to find the life lessons in a little league practice and apply them to a multi-million dollar company. No matter how “insignificant” a situation might seem, I’m always working on cultivating greater self-awareness and humility to understand what I can learn from them. Even a loss can be a gain if you learn from it.

Q. If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?

Being an entrepreneur is a lonely road - but how lonely depends on you. Creating a support system, networking, finding mentors, and even reading about your peers’ experiences are so important to lighten the load. At the end of the day, you’ll still be the one who is ultimately accountable for the successes and failures of your business - but a strong support system can make the journey and the destination that much better.

About the CEO

Michael Demetriou is the CEO of Opear MD. He founded Opear to support families when they most need a hand. His incredible journey began with childhood poverty and homelessness, but also the strength and support of a single mother who inspired him to dream big and help others. Michael’s greatest achievement came when he became a father, transforming his life and achieving success and acclaim in real estate. But when his wife experienced an unexpected struggle with severe postpartum depression alongside the loss of her father, he learned a valuable lesson: you might be independent, and you might be “a giver,” but no matter who you are, we all need a hand sometimes. Michael founded Opear as a childcare app in 2015 to be that source of care and support. Like all good things, the app has evolved since then, growing from childcare, to pediatric care, to tech-enabled healthcare for all ages. Today, Opear’s app brings telemedicine and house calls to patients across the country, using technology to eliminate the pain points of an outdated healthcare system.