At just 22 years-old, Susan Conover was diagnosed with skin cancer. She considers herself to be extremely lucky. When she tried to make an appointment with a dermatologist to look at her skin, the wait time was at least three months. Rather than wait, her primary care physician performed a biopsy and discovered she had stage two melanoma.
Conover believes that if she had waited to see a dermatologist, she might not be here today.
This experience led Conover to build Piction Health, a virtual-first dermatology practice that says it provides patients with personalized care plans for skin issues within two days. Recently, Piction Health’s services became available in-network to over 1 million people in the state of Connecticut.
“We’re sort of the only general dermatology practice built for scale,” Conover said. Conover is a mechanical engineer who graduated from the University of Texas at Austin and then MIT with a master’s degree in system design and management.
Piction Health, formerly known as LuminDx, launched in 2017 and announced a $2 million seed round in 2020.
The Boston company aims to make dermatological care more accessible. Patients submit information about their medical history and skin, hair or nail concern online. Then, board-certified dermatologists review this information and create a personalized care plan within two days, Conover said. Patients then meet with licensed nurse practitioners virtually to review the plan and answer any questions they might have.
Piction Health uses AI to give patients feedback on the photos they submit, such as if it’s too far away or blurry. AI also helps route patients to the right providers. Cases that are easier to treat, such as acne, can be routed to a nurse practitioner, Conover said. Then, a dermatologist reviews and approves the nurse practitioner’s assessment and plan. More complex cases are sent to the dermatologist first. This AI was trained on a database of skin diseases across different body parts and skin tones that Piction Health spent three years building.
“Our database is now 10x the size of any competitors,” Conover said. “The differentiator is we’re making dermatologists scalable so they can manage 15x more patients.”
If necessary, Piction Health also helps patients book in-person appointments with dermatologists quickly. Conover said they’re able to do this by partnering with local clinics like Tufts Medical Center and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. She calls this a “symbiotic relationship.” Piction Health is able to reduce the load on these medical centers by taking on clients whose needs can be handled remotely and connecting them with patients who need in-person services, such as surgery.
Conover said Piction Health can help with most skin conditions, including acne, eczema and moles. They focus more on medical dermatology than cosmetic concerns.
Piction Health serves patients in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Florida. Since launching to the public in October, Conover said they’ve been doubling their patients and revenue every month.
Conover said out-of-pocket costs are about $80 per consult through Piction Health. Recently, Piction Health began accepting Aetna and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield (Elevance) in Connecticut.
Conover said they hope to continue doubling revenue and patients as much as possible month-to-month and taking advantage of the ability to serve people within their insurance networks in Connecticut. The company is also bringing on a few different roles to support patient growth and a director of clinical operations.
“Showing that we improve outcomes, reduce costs and improve access to care is a really core focus of ours,” Conover said.
Sign up for The Beat, BostInno’s free daily innovation newsletter from BostInno reporter Hannah Green. See past examples here.
