Telemedicine app Doctor On Demand raises $50M

Doctor On Demand will soon be available to 25 million consumers across the country

I've been sick with a cough for the past few weeks and I finally wound up going to the doctor yesterday. Between the doctor's appointment, getting a chest x-ray and getting my prescriptions filled, I was out for four hours in all. By the time I got back home I was exhausted. 

Maybe I would have had to go out for those other things (dealing with the pharmacy took up most of my time) but some of it may have been avoided if I had used Doctor On Demand, a healthcare service that provides video visits with board-certified physicians on a patient's smartphone.

The company has been getting a lot of attention from venture capitalists, and on Wednesday it announced the close of a $50 million round of Series B financing. The round  was led by Tenaya Capital and included new investors Qualcomm Incorporated, through its  venture investment group, Qualcomm Ventures, Dignity Health, Anne Wojcicki, and other growth stage firms. Existing investors Venrock, Shasta Ventures, and Sir Richard Branson also participated.

Doctor On Demand had previously raised a $24 million in funding, including a $21 million round in August of last year. Previous investors included Andreessen Horowitz, Google Ventures and Lerer Ventures. Doctor On Demand has now raised a total of $74 million in venture funding. 

The company said that "will use the funds to continue the rapid expansion of its top rated video telemedicine service."

"We will be using the new funding to expand our business, and work with even more health care providers and businesses to provide fast and cost-effective medical care through employee health and wellness programs," Adam Jackson, co-founder and CEO of Doctor On Demand, explained to me.

Founded in 2012, Doctor on Demand allows patients to have virtual visits with their doctor. All they have to do is download the app, provide a list of their symptoms and they will be instantly connected to a board-certified doctor in their state or they can schedule an appointment for later.

Patients connect to physicians using video visits, with each one costing $40 for a 15-minute appointment. If the call goes over the allotted time, patients have the ability to pay another $40 for the same amount of time. Patients can pay for the visit with their Health Care Spending Account (HSA), Flexible Spending Account (FSA), or credit card. Doctors can also write prescriptions for patients when appropriate, which will be covered by the patient's insurance plan.

The service has been available on iOS and Android, and now the company is announcing a new Web browser app as well.

Doctor On Demand works as both a direct to consumer platform, as well as enterprise distribution channel, in which it signs up enterprise clients who then offer the service, for free, to their employees.

Available in 46 states across the country, there are about 1,400 physicians in the Doctor On Demand network to date and app has been downloaded over 1 million times. The company has not released any revenue numbers, but "we're continuing to grow our customer base both on the business / healthcare front, and on consumer front," Jackson said.

On June 17, the company will be announcing that it has signed its 200th employer customer and that more than 25 million consumers can access Doctor On Demand for the price of their co-pay, or even less.

"We've gained tremendous momentum in the past year signing up major employers, health plans, and health systems. There are now more than 25 million consumers that have subsidized access to Doctor On Demand," said Jackson.

"Our disruptive business model and superior patient experience has enabled us to take a leadership position in the telemedicine industry. This funding will fuel our rapid enterprise growth as well as continue to improve our patient experience and add expand the clinical services we offer."