Although the use of artificial intelligence has traditionally been popularized by Fortune 500 companies, DearDoc founder and CEO Joe Brown wanted to make it accessible to medical practitioners as well.
“Democratizing AI and putting it in the hands of doctors who want to grow their practices but may not know how to attract new patients is what DearDoc was founded on,” he said. “We’ve been able to build out a suite of 12 products all along the patient funnel and look forward to continuing to innovate.”
DearDoc was founded in 2019 after Brown noticed that his grandfather, a dermatologist with his own practice, was seeing a lot of traffic coming to his website, but was struggling to convert them into potential patients. However, Brown soon realized that this was not just some small-scale idea, and combined his years of experience in the technology sales industry with his entrepreneurial spirit to build a company that prioritizes putting AI tools into the hands of doctors and healthcare professionals who need them most.
“That was my ‘aha!’ moment,” he said. “That launch was the first of many, and we now have a full suite of products designed to touch every aspect of the patient experience. We just want to make sure doctors and healthcare providers have everything they need to take the stress out of administrative tasks so they can focus on delivering great care.”
At the core of this mission, he added, is an emphasis on using technological developments and innovations to serve doctors and their patients.
"Our goal is to make AI easier to use and accessible to private practices," he said. "Now small dentists and doctors can leverage AI in the same way as giants like Amazon and Fortune 500 companies."
During COVID-19, health care providers were prevented from adequately serving existing patients or taking on new ones. During those unprecedented times, Brown and his team developed telemedicine products that empowered doctors beyond just seeing their patients remotely.
"We had on our product roadmap to have telemedicine in place by the end of 2020, but we accelerated that and were able to save the company," he said. "We had the best month in history in April 2020,and we were hiring like crazy, even as other businesses were doing large lay-offs.. Telemedicine is a very small part of what we do, but in that moment, it was a great way to serve our customers, and help them through the pandemic.”
“Since then, we’ve only been able to grow,” he said. “We now offer a dozen healthcare-focused products for every step of the patient journey, and we’ve been able to support medical professionals through the pandemic and beyond.”
He credits his team’s innovative thinking and optimism with DearDoc’s ongoing success and growth, and said he always tells budding entrepreneurs to adopt similar mindsets when working on their own ventures.
"Don't think about what you don't have,” he said. That's not going to get you anywhere. Think about what you do have and use it as motivation to apply your skills towards good."
Through his podcast, Creator of Circumstance, Brown aims to give advice and guidance to other entrepreneurs who want practical ways to find their level of success. He shares insights on business growth and personal development to entertain you through experiences that can motivate you to become a better leader within an organization or team environment.
“My chief goal is to give back what so many other mentors have given to me,” he said. “I owe so much to the DearDoc team and to my mentors and family, and I want to pay it forward in any way I can.”
Creator of Circumstance offers short, quick-hit episodes that cover everything from sales and marketing to self-improvement and growth. Brown speaks matter-of-factly about the strategies that make entrepreneurs successful – and how to put them into action.
“Part of growing as an entrepreneur and as a person is being willing to seek out growth,” he said. “I’ve found that if you focus on growing personally, your professional growth will follow. If you focus on developing your skill set and investing in the areas of weakness you’ve identified as needing growth, you’re on the right track toward excellence.”
That certainly rings true for DearDoc. In two years, DearDoc went from less than ten employees to an enterprise of over 2,500 customers, and 175 employees on staff. It’s clear that the DearDoc team won't be slowing down anytime soon.
“We’ve been able to set the bar high for what patients and doctors deserve from coordinating and receiving care,” he said. “I’m very lucky to work with such smart and talented people and I’m very excited about what we’re going to continue to build at DearDoc.”
"This article was written in cooperation with Joe Brown and DearDoc "