The disrupters: 30 tech companies make their pitch

Physicians can be a demanding lot. That’s the way athenahealth CEO Jonathan Bush put it at the company’s second annual MDP conference, which convened Sept. 18 atop a Maine summit overlooking a panoramic view of Penobscot Bay.

MDP is code for “more disruption please.” Bush had invited 30 "disrupters" to give a two-minute pitch, TEDMED style, on an idea or product.

"We can’t go fast enough for our clients," Bush explained. That’s why, he said, he is looking for big thinkers with big ideas to put in front of a big audience: athenahealth’s clients.

Of the 30 pitches delivered at the MDP conference, Bush and his team would select five to follow up with a 10-minute spiel, and then select one to work with and put in front of athenahealth’s audience.

Here is a random sampling of five of the 30 pitches.

• Matthew Cottrell, CEO of 5 O’Clock Records, developed a medical request platform to fulfill requests for copies of medical records. It has the potential to save physician practices thousands of dollars, he said. His company tagline: “Make more, work less, go home early.”
• Jonathan Baron, CEO and co-founder of healthfinch, has developed an automated prescription renewal technology. He promises a simpler refill process with RefillWizard. "Half of all primary care physicians are burnt out," Baron told the audience. "So, this is on us." The answer, he said, is to "automate and delegate."
• Peter Hudson, a former emergency room doctor, founded iTriage with another ER doc. "We decided to become entrepreneurs," he said.  iTriage, he said, helps people answer the two most common medical questions: "What could be wrong?" and "Where should I go for treatment?" The mobile app is free for consumers. The mission: Empower consumers with control and convenience to effectively manage their personal healthcare, and improve healthcare delivery for providers and payers.
• Chris Moses, CEO of Smart Scheduling, applies airline booking technology to scheduling doctors’ appointments. The technology can "intelligently overbook," predict whether or not the patients are going to show up for their appointments, and list potential no-shows.
• Alexandra Drane, chief visionary officer of Eliza, said her company is in the business of getting people engaged in their healthcare, with its coordinated multimedia campaigns that include tailored mailings, e-mails, text messages and more to "turn up the volume" on key health topics and connect people with supportive resources and to remind them of their medical appointments. Using its data-driven database, Eliza determines the best time of day, and the best medium, in which to deliver content.