The Future of Post-Acute EHR: Dr. Paul Kim Interviews DocNow Founder/CEO Dr. Kashif Saeed

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In this interview, Dr. Paul Kim discusses with DocNow Founder/CEO Dr. Kashif Saeed the catalyst for starting DocNow, the charting challenges in post-acute care, the technology advancements that are being made in the space, as well as the future of technology for post-acute care providers.

This wide-ranging discussion covers the vision of DocNow and the mission to enhance the technology options available to post-acute care providers.

Transcript:

Dr. Paul Kim:
Hello, everyone, and welcome to SAWC Tech Spotlight. I'm really happy to be joined by Dr. Kashif Saeed from DocNow. Dr. Saeed, welcome aboard. 

Dr. Kashif Saeed:
Thank you, nice to meet you. 

Dr. Kim:
Nice to meet you. Tell us a little bit about your company. 

Dr. Saeed:
So we are fundamentally an EHR that was founded in 2019. I'm a physician by training, I'm a physiatrist, I entered the post-acute care space, I was seeing patients, and then burnout became very real, and I very soon realized that technology is not there to augment us as providers.

I was lucky enough to meet my CTO, and he worked in the health care tech field back in the 80s, and we took a chance, and he's like, let's solve a very basic problem. Fast forward 2 years later, we had a base EHR system. I was customer number 0 on this. And then from then on, we kind of grew very organically. 

Dr. Kim:
So it's a relatively new company.

Dr. Saeed:
Correct, yes, yes. We were founded in 2019, and we grew very, very quickly. Current day, we are primarily in the post-acute care space. That is our primary specialty. 

Dr. Kim:
I know there's a lot of different EMRs available out there and some are very large, like Epic is probably the most common one in the United States. Where does your company's program fit as far as helping people in the post-acute space and perhaps even in private practice, I would assume, use a software program like yours?

Dr. Saeed:
Right, so the world of EHRs are obviously very complex; they are a key component of a provider's life. They control essentially the majority of workflow on a day-to-day basis.
We developed DocNow with some very basic tools that haven't been done well, in our opinion, from facility integrations, we have charting tools, we have smart phrases, we have customizable templates. So it's a very configurable system that works for the provider. 

Dr. Kim:
It's very personalized and specific to whoever's using it, I assume. 

Dr. Saeed:
Correct. 

Dr. Kim:
How about, is there a billing component as well to your EMR?

Dr. Saeed:
Yes. In our system, you're able to document. You can do charge capture. We connect to any billing company via an API interface or an HL7 interface. We also have a MIPS integration that can be very cumbersome at times for providers; we try to make it as easy as possible. 

Dr. Kim: 
Can you, for the non-tech savvy people out there, what is MIPS integration? 

Dr. Saeed:
So MIPS has to do with a Medicare-based incentive program, and it essentially requires physicians to report on certain measures based on clinical practice. 

Dr. Kim: 
And your software automatically collects that information and shares it? 

Dr. Saeed:
We augment the providers to have that information readily accessible to make their decision making a bit easier.

Dr. Kim: 
I know some EMRs also have a component that does orders, for example, for DME supplies. Is that a piece of your software? 

Dr. Saeed:
Yes, we are currently building, ordering mechanisms that will connect to external systems We're also partnering with different ordering companies in terms of product. So it is a key component of the system. 

Dr. Kim:
Okay, and you started in Seattle, your company's based in Seattle, which is, we just discussed off camera here. It's a beautiful place, obviously, if anybody's visited there, but is there, you are not only in the state of Washington, I'd assume, because you're, it's a software company, so you could really be anywhere. 

Dr. Saeed:
Correct, yeah. We have a quite large customer base currently. We're in about 1,500 post-acute care facilities, pretty much all over the country.

Dr. Kim:
Wow, and why, you mentioned that a couple of times already about the post-acute space. Is there a reason why you kind of pick that space? 

Dr. Saeed:
So I worked in the post-acute care space, and I realized there's a major gap. The acute care systems, you know, Epic, Cerners of the world, they're handling the problems. The post-acute care space gets overlooked and it has been overlooked. And I think that's leading to good providers not wanting to serve those communities purely based on the systems that are not in place.

Dr. Kim:
So when you, I just want to clearly define the post-acute space, because I just, for clarity's sake, is that included in like rehab hospitals, nurses, LTACs in those places? 

Dr. Saeed:
Correct. Anything post-discharge from an acute hospital. 

Dr. Kim:
Okay. How about private practice? 

Dr. Saeed:
We have not entered the clinic space yet. It's in our pipeline for 2025 to enter the outpatient market as well. 

Dr. Kim:
And I don't know how many other competitors are in the post-acute space, but I would assume, I mean, honestly, this is the first time I've talked to anyone or any company that is specifically targeted that area. You clearly saw the need in that area. Where other areas do you feel that your software could be helpful to people? 

Dr. Saeed:
So we started as a base EHR with a generic work system for any specialty, and then we were introduced to wound care, and we've realized there's a major, major gap in wound care systems currently in the market. 

Dr. Kim:
It sounds like, since 2019, 1600 facilities, is that…? 

Dr. Saeed:
1200. 

Dr. Kim:
That's an incredible growth in a very short period of time especially during COVID.I mean that was a very weird time for everyone in health care. What is your target then? You just want to grow and grow and grow or what is your corporate goals for your company?

Dr. Saeed:
Yeah, corporate goals, so I'll start with our fundamental company goals is to listen to the providers. So I think this is why we've been successful up to this point. We take provider feedback, we implement it, we roll it out. And the adoption rate has been very high. There's been a lot of organic growth. So our goal is to just build a system that works for providers.

Dr. Kim:
And clearly there's a need. And that's demonstrated by how rapidly your company is growing. I would assume that there have been perhaps some barriers that you've encountered. Can you discuss some of those? 

Dr. Saeed:
Yeah, I would say the primary barrier is adoption to new technology from healthcare providers. I'm a provider, I'm stubborn. Other providers are stubborn. They like things done their way. So changing habit is difficult. But we've realized it can be done. The technology, as long as it's designed to be flexible, multiple workflows, different ways to do things, it can be a win-win. 

Dr. Kim:
I think most providers, and I don't want to speak for everyone, but I view EMR as an inefficient tool because I was raised in a time where there were still paper charts and you looked up labs and you just wrote orders by hand. I understand from a billing and documentation perspective that the EMR is a better way to go, but I feel like it actually slows the patient interaction. I know there's generation and perhaps in another segment we're going to talk about conversation capture and other generative AI capabilities that will get us detached from the monitor, the computer monitor. Is there some thought in your company to go sort of enhance what you have in your software package to allow a more face-to-face interaction with patients? 

Dr. Saeed:
So it's a key component, right? It's spending more time face-to-face with patients is like the goal of any provider in an ideal world. If we can design the tool where assessments can be done at bedside, if the data can be captured in an accurate fashion and then seamlessly transferred into a note, there's less time to be in front of a computer. 

Dr. Kim:
Right. 

Dr. Saeed:
And less mistakes, perhaps. Because, if you see a lot of patients, for example, I'll see maybe 20 to 25 patients in a morning or afternoon session. I can't remember everything that was discussed, and so I would assume that that's the natural evolution for all EMRs is conversation capture and applying those into the different components. 

Dr. Kim:
In the last few minutes that we have here, I just want to discuss future direction for your company. I've been around the tech space in the wound space for a long time; there's always some goal, whether it's to be purchased by a larger company or to really expand and become a major player in the EMR space. What is your vision for your company? 

Dr. Saeed:
Yeah, current vision is, number 1, solve fundamental problems. So we have an EHR system that's working. Our goal is to build an ecosystem around the EHR that continues to augment provider workflow, and on top of provider workflow, start solving basic problems that the back office deals with: compliance issues, reporting, clinical data, developing research protocols out of that, clinical practice guidelines. So, there's a lot to be done. 

Dr. Kim:
Yeah. Well, I think you guys have made a tremendous effort in that space, and I know there's still work to be done, but just finally, any kind of final words you'd like to depart about your company, your vision for your company, and the future direction that you see, not just in your company, not just in this space, but as a physician, where do you see the need from the wound care side of things?

Dr. Saeed:
The highest impact, I believe, would be implementing some predictive analytics for best outcomes in the wound care world. For instance, you know having data to develop cost of wound over a lifetime. That's one good example, augmenting providers to make a good decision in terms of what product to use. However, this needs to be data driven in an ideal world. That's the current challenge. 

Dr. Kim:
Well, I just want to thank you Dr. Saeed and DocNow is the company. And we're very excited to speak with him and his company today. We welcome you guys to follow the link to his website if you want further information. Thank you very much.