Medical recordkeeping service receives investment

A North Carolina-based startup that helps doctors with their patient records has received a shot in the arm from a Danville-based business development organization.

The Launch Place is investing $250,000 in iScribes. The money is part of a $410,000 total investment in the company. The remaining $160,000 came from Triangle Angel Partners, an angel investor firm funding startups in and around North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park.

In accepting the grant from The Launch Place, iScribes has agreed to hire a minimum of five employees from the Danville area during the next three years, paying a minimum of $250,000 in salaries in the region.

The Durham, N.C.-based startup helps physicians maintain their records of patient visits.  Instead of keeping notes themselves or employing assistants (called scribes) to take down information, physicians use iScribes’ mobile app to make an audio recording of their discussions with patients.  iScribes employees then transcribe the recording, putting the information in electronic medical records.

iScribes was founded in 2014 by Christopher McGuire and Dr. Jared Pelo, who had become frustrated with the time involved in documenting patient visits. 

“I quickly saw how burdensome documentation had become. Doctors were burning out. Counterintuitively, technology didn’t seem to help,” Pelo said in a statement when the investments were announced. “In fact, the adoption of widespread electronic medical records just made matters worse for overworked doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants.”

Last year iScribes documented more than 400,000 patient visits. Pelo estimates that this means iScribes saved 27,000 hours of physicians’ time. The company now employs more than 250 people, and Pelo says that he hopes to double employment this year. 

Eva Doss, president and CEO of the Launch Place, says that she hopes iScribes will help the Danville area achieve a critical mass of startups that will draw more jobs to the area. Officials have been working for years to stimulate the local economy after the loss of tobacco, furniture and textile industry jobs.

The Launch Place’s goal is to assist business development in Danville, Pittsylvania County and Caswell County, N.C.