The Importance of Data for a Personalized Patient-Centric Primary Care Model

Rafael López Schietekat, founder of Diagnostikare tells us about its digital health platforms and Covid-19.

First of all, how are you and your family doing in these COVID-19 times? 

Rafael López Schietekat: Fortunately, everyone is fine, including family members and a close circle. Thanks for asking. We’ve all been very aware of the sanitary measures and precautions to overcome the situation at the country and global level.

Tell us about you, your career, and how you founded Diagnostikare.

Rafael López Schietekat: I hold a bachelor’s degree in information systems engineering. Later I worked for more than 4 years in Management Consulting for EY both in Mexico and the United States. In 2014, I went to study for my MBA in the United Kingdom and stayed working in London until 2019 in the Tech Services Sector. I founded Diagnostikare back in mid-2018, together with my brother, Doctor Rodrigo López, in response to a clear need that we identified when it comes to access to primary health services in Mexico, and mainly a lack of a preventative culture, which leads to chronic degenerative diseases and a very high out-of-pocket expense among the population.

How does Diagnostikare innovate? 

Rafael López Schietekat: We developed what we call a binomial model, which combines the use of advanced AI algorithms and exhaustive data processing with qualified health professionals through our digital platform, approaching the patient from prevention and timely care, and not exclusively in a reactive way.

How does the coronavirus pandemic affect your business finances?

Rafael López Schietekat: We are in one of the few sectors that benefited from the pandemic, although what makes us most proud is to have helped so many people during the peak of it. We were not exempt from being affected since our clients (mostly companies and business partners) were delayed in their payment obligations with all their suppliers, and we were also affected.

Did you have to make difficult choices regarding human resources, and what are the lessons learned?

Rafael López Schietekat: Thanks to the success we had with our digital health solution, the most difficult moment consisted in the processes of hiring new team members remotely and the subsequent organization to work as a remote team with people we had never met in person. The most important lesson learned was the capacity for resilience, adaptation, and empathy.

How did your customer relationship management evolve? Do you use any specific tools to be efficient?

Rafael López Schietekat: We haven’t really used any special tools beyond our standard CRM for account management. The most important thing in the relationship with the client has been to position ourselves as an ally and a partner, more than a vendor, very much in line with our value proposition and digital health solution that generates value for all stakeholders, that is, patients (employees) and sponsors (employers).

Did you benefit from any government grants, and did that help keep your business afloat?

Rafael López Schietekat: Not really, we stayed afloat thanks to a reasonable spending policy, income generated by clients, and the support of our investors.

Your final thoughts?

Rafael López Schietekat: Something that over a year ago was nice to have in Mexico and Latin America, today it has become a necessity, and what makes us most proud is knowing that every day more users benefit from our digital health service, and we are increasingly becoming our users first touchpoint for any health-related issues. We are developing very interesting and innovative things for this year, and we cannot wait for the population and our business partners to have access to this.

Your website?

www.diagnostikare.com