Revolutionizing Virtual Care with At-Home Biometric Kits with Travis Rush, co-founder and CEO of Reperio Health

[00:00:02] Hey everyone, welcome back to the Outcomes Rocket, recording live from health in Las Vegas. I'm so excited to be here with the amazing Travis Rush. He is the co-founder and CEO of Reperio. He's a serial entrepreneur, has had previous exits because he understands the beat of the industry. So thank you so much for joining me, Travis.

[00:00:26] Appreciate it. Thanks for that.

[00:00:27] So what brings you to health?

[00:00:27] Well, we're trying to show people a whole new way to do virtual care. And it's been pretty exciting to have all the activity at our booth. We've been doing live screenings at our booth. We've done over 350 in two days and it's been a lot of fun.

[00:00:43] 350 in two days.

[00:00:44] Yeah, it's been a constant flow of people testing it out, experiencing what it's like to be able to get all their biometrics in a matter of, well, seven minutes here at the show. When you do it at home, it takes 20 to 30 minutes, but at the event, we're able to do it a little faster.

[00:00:58] All right, Travis, we're going to unpack this.

[00:01:00] All right.

[00:01:01] Tell us where everything is now and what the big opportunity is.

[00:01:05] Yeah. So I think, you know, what we've learned over the last few years, especially post-COVID is virtual care is a necessity. We can't ignore it. It is the path of the future for health care. We have to figure out how to make access easier, get health care to people instead of making people come to it. Right.

[00:01:21] The industry can't support all of us. There's not enough doctors. There's not enough nurses. So we have to find another way. And so what we've really been focused on is removing that friction and all those barriers that keep people from taking care of themselves.

[00:01:35] Telehealth has been pushed really hard during COVID because it had to. But in all of that, I think we made a few mistakes and I think it's time to kind of reevaluate how telehealth is being done right now to make it more efficient.

[00:01:49] You know, right now you go and have this visit with somebody over a video call, but they have no data. There's no data to act on. So they can have a nice conversation with you about how you're feeling and what's going on.

[00:02:01] But ultimately they say, all right, well, we're going to need you to go make an appointment and go to some lab somewhere and get some tests done. Once you get those results back, reach back out to us and we'll set up another call.

[00:02:12] So now you're two months into this to just have a conversation about your current health. And, you know, what ends up happening is 33% of our country does not participate. Right. We got 100 million people that have not been to a doctor in three to five years and it's I'm one of them.

[00:02:28] And it's not because I don't care about my health. Yeah. It's because it's pain in the ass. Yeah. And we got to make it easier. So that's what we're out to do. I love it. There are some major opportunities to close that gap.

[00:02:38] Tell us a little bit about your company and the solution, which we actually have right here for everybody to see.

[00:02:45] I'll lift this up here for a second. So this thing is a kit full of biometric devices. So with this kit, this thing ships to your house and with it, we're able to get your blood pressure, your heart rate, BMI, relative fat mass.

[00:03:01] And on the blood side from just a little finger stick, we can get your total cholesterol, LDLs, HDLs, triglycerides and glucose all within 90 seconds of completing the kit.

[00:03:12] So nothing goes off to a lab. Everything happens immediately. All the data shows up on your phone and then you can get connected with a medical professional to have a conversation about what now.

[00:03:22] So that's what we're focused on.

[00:03:24] Very impressive. And I'm sure everybody watching and listening to this are thinking, wait a minute, a little bit of blood.

[00:03:31] When I go in, they take a couple of tubes full of blood.

[00:03:35] And that's a really good point.

[00:03:36] Tell me about accuracy.

[00:03:37] Yep. So that's a really good point. So of course, right? The industry is always pushing everybody.

[00:03:43] You need to go to your PCP. We're going to force everybody to go to their PCP.

[00:03:48] Yes, we all agree. No one's arguing that that's not the best plan, but they're not.

[00:03:55] So this, even though we're not getting a full draw of blood, which is ultimately what allows them to dive into the really, really nitty gritty details of your health.

[00:04:04] We're at least getting the foundation and the basic metrics to people in their hands so that they can start acting on them.

[00:04:12] So the three killers in this country that cause cardiac failure, hypertension, cholesterol, and being pre-diabetic.

[00:04:22] If you look up the American Heart Association talks about it, these are the metrics that kill people.

[00:04:28] And so those are the things that we're trying to make people aware of so that they can take those next steps,

[00:04:33] which may end up being getting more blood to dig deeper.

[00:04:36] But at least we can start here and get that data into people's houses so they can at least know what's going on with their body.

[00:04:42] Yeah, no, it's impressive. It's impressive.

[00:04:44] And so tell me a little bit more about this kit.

[00:04:47] And if you want, we could bring it in a little closer.

[00:04:49] Sure. I think what's interesting, let me turn on this thing here in the middle.

[00:04:53] So this light in the middle, this is what controls this whole thing.

[00:04:57] So the way this works is we have some technology that we developed.

[00:05:00] There's a patent on this. We call this thing the hub.

[00:05:03] This is what manages all the connectivity.

[00:05:05] So if you imagine if you go buy devices in a store, you end up having five different apps on your phone

[00:05:11] that connect to five different devices.

[00:05:13] You have to pair each one of them one at a time.

[00:05:16] The apps don't talk to each other. There's no correlation of the data.

[00:05:19] So what we've done is created a single app that talks to this hub.

[00:05:23] This hub then manages the connecting to all the devices throughout the screening process.

[00:05:28] So the user never, ever, even when our kit arrives,

[00:05:32] they never have to go into their Bluetooth settings and figure it out.

[00:05:35] They get this device. It arrives at their house.

[00:05:37] They log into their phone on our app.

[00:05:39] It says, all right, turn on the button in the center of the kit.

[00:05:42] They turn it on and in three seconds, it connects and says, great, we found your kit.

[00:05:46] Let's get started with the screening.

[00:05:48] And then from that point on, it manages all the connecting and passing of data back to the phone.

[00:05:52] So it makes it super, super easy.

[00:05:54] We have a 96% success rate and people getting through this screening when it arrives at their house.

[00:05:59] Well, there you have it, folks.

[00:06:00] I wanted to give you a close-up so you could see this.

[00:06:03] Awesome. Thanks, all.

[00:06:04] Yeah, of course.

[00:06:05] And by the way, if you guys are listening to this, I'm going to link up the video.

[00:06:09] If you're curious on what Travis was showing us, so you could check it out too.

[00:06:13] Well, awesome.

[00:06:14] Tell us about Traction.

[00:06:16] How are things going for the business?

[00:06:18] Who's been interested?

[00:06:19] And who are you looking to engage with?

[00:06:21] Yeah, there's multiple ways.

[00:06:23] I think right now our focus has been focusing on the employer arena.

[00:06:26] You know, that's kind of the core place to get to people and get them engaged in their houses through their benefits.

[00:06:32] And so that's been the focus to date.

[00:06:34] We're now starting to work with some providers.

[00:06:36] We're also now about to roll out some pilots with some large pairs so that we can begin really pushing this virtual visit component,

[00:06:44] which is now something we have begun offering on the backside of this.

[00:06:48] Because what everybody always asks is, great, I've got my data, but now what do I do?

[00:06:52] And so that's the next part of this that we're now solving.

[00:06:55] So you'll be able to get this kit, do the screening, immediately be connected to a healthcare professional to have a conversation about what it means.

[00:07:03] And in doing that, we're also connecting to Tefka, which is part of the health exchange that was announced back in December of 23.

[00:07:11] And we're connected through No2, one of the Quinns, and are able to pull down your healthcare history as well.

[00:07:18] So now when you engage with this healthcare professional, we've got your history and current data both available to show them.

[00:07:26] And then we're using AI to analyze that information and help streamline that conversation with the doctor.

[00:07:31] That's fantastic.

[00:07:32] Yeah.

[00:07:33] So full picture, giving the consumer some choice.

[00:07:36] They could do it from their own home.

[00:07:38] And all the information's there.

[00:07:40] It's not just a telecall.

[00:07:42] Right, exactly.

[00:07:43] So they've got data to act on, which I think is the most important part.

[00:07:46] And the part that gets missed in telehealth right now and why it's not working very well and why payers, frankly, are canceling contracts with some of the telehealth agencies.

[00:07:54] Because they're ending up having to pay for a virtual visit and then pay for a lab and then pay for another virtual visit.

[00:08:01] You know, we're able to dial this into one claim that lowers their costs.

[00:08:05] That's fantastic.

[00:08:07] Travis, the theme of this meeting is bold.

[00:08:10] So this is definitely a bold move, one that's needed.

[00:08:14] But out of the approach to the market, the technology, the things that you guys are doing, what would you say is the boldest that you're doing in order to improve healthcare for all of us?

[00:08:23] I think it's embracing all of the latest technology that's out there and trying to use it responsibly, but also kind of breaking the mold of what is normal.

[00:08:34] Bringing these devices into the home, this device that does the blood test, you know, one of the things you asked earlier was, how do we rely on this data?

[00:08:41] How can this possibly as good as what's happening when I go to a lab?

[00:08:45] This is the device that the lab agencies have been using for on-site visits for the last 20 years.

[00:08:52] We are just the first company to bring this into the home.

[00:08:55] We went back to the company that makes that, a PTS diagnostic.

[00:08:59] So I'll make a little plug for them.

[00:09:00] They invented this device and they own 90% of the global market for instant blood testing.

[00:09:06] And we went to them and said, listen, we want to do something different.

[00:09:09] You guys have been doing the way you've been doing it, but we want to bring this into the home and try something new and get more control in people's hands.

[00:09:16] So they don't have to keep relying on the healthcare system all the time.

[00:09:19] And then embracing AI, I think is important.

[00:09:21] You know, everybody is, oh no, we can't be using AI.

[00:09:24] AI is scary.

[00:09:25] We shouldn't be, you know, allowing that into our health data.

[00:09:28] I think there are responsible ways to do it.

[00:09:30] And that's what we're trying to do is use AI to enhance a visit, not take over for the doctor, just enable them to have more information at their fingertips faster.

[00:09:40] We're all facing a shortage of healthcare professionals in the industry.

[00:09:45] Any college data that you look at about the college graduates coming out of school and the number of doctors that are retiring, those numbers are way out of whack.

[00:09:54] There's a lot more people retiring than are graduating from medical school.

[00:09:58] That is a recipe for a problem that we're headed into.

[00:10:02] So I think we have to try things that are new and different to try to figure out a solution.

[00:10:06] Agreed, Travis.

[00:10:07] Well, thank you so much.

[00:10:08] It's clear that the innovation you guys are working on is bold, but also very practical and easy to use, which you'd remove friction from accessing care.

[00:10:19] You improve outcomes.

[00:10:20] It's one-on-one.

[00:10:21] So thanks for the no-nonsense approach to making things better for all of us.

[00:10:25] If people want to reach out to you or learn more, where can they get in touch?

[00:10:28] Yeah, repariohealth.com.

[00:10:30] Amazing.

[00:10:31] There you have it, everybody.

[00:10:32] The amazing Travis Rush, co-founder and CEO of Repario.

[00:10:36] Make sure you check them out.

[00:10:37] Check the show notes.

[00:10:38] And Travis, thanks for joining us.

[00:10:39] Thanks all.