Visiting a physician friend with stacks of medical journals and no time to read them inspired Sachin Nanavati ’10 to co-found Docphin, a mobile platform that streamlines access to breaking medical research.
—as told to Simone Silverbush
A Facebook Feed for Medical Research
My co-founders [Derek Juang, MD, and Mitesh Patel, MD] and I set out to solve a universal problem for doctors: information overload. There is about 10 times more medical research disseminated today than there was 10 years ago. Doctors in clinical settings are very pressed for time, and they often have to log in to several different publications and sites to search for relevant journal articles.
The “phin” in “Docphin” stands for Personalized Health Information Network, which is sort of like a Facebook feed for doctors. Our app gives doctors access to more than 5,000 journals and recommends research that is relevant to their interests and trending among their peers. Instead of having to log in to each journal, we affiliate everyone’s account with their institutional subscription so they can access articles with one tap.
Better Clinical Care
It can take more than a decade for established research to become standard of care; our vision is to close that gap so that doctors can practice evidence-based medicine that is grounded in the most up-to-date research. Institutions can also use Docphin to circulate clinical guidelines, hospital-specific protocols, and other references that help employees be more efficient.
Live Case Study
I developed the business plan for Docphin in my Launching New Ventures class at Columbia. It wasn’t required that we ultimately launch a business, but it’s great that we did!
The Best Validation
Apple named us the Best New iOS App for Medical Professionals in 2014. But the best part [of creating Docphin] are the messages we receive every day from doctors who tell us we’ve created a practical tool that is helping them take better care of their patients.
What’s Next
As our user base grows — we’re being used by more than 500 institutions in over 20 countries — this year is about stepping on the gas and getting Docphin into the hands of as many physicians as possible. We’re also exploring opportunities with pharmaceutical and biotech brands that may want to leverage the platform as a digital channel to reach and engage with doctors.