Interview: Dr. Wayne Guerra, iTriage Co-Founder & Chief Medical Officer

I interviewed iTriage Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Wayne Guerra, and we touched upon how he and Dr. Peter Hudson came up with the idea for iTriage and how the business continues to innovate. Throughout the conversation it was clear how passionate Dr. Guerra feels about the Company’s mission to empower people with their health management.iTriage’s  patented “Symptom-to-Provider™” pathway provides information on thousands of symptoms, diseases, and medical procedures for people to filter through, and then directs the user to the proper site for treatment (be it the hospital, urgent care facility, physician office, etc.).What sparked your interest in co-founding this company?Both founders have extensive experience in emergency medicine and as Dr. Guerra puts it, “We were frustrated with patients not having the information they wanted and needed to make their own decisions.” As the iPhone gained popularity, Wayne and Peter saw a way to make the healthcare delivery system more efficient by giving patients the proper roadmap -- leading them to the right place for treatment and follow up. “When patients are actively involved, that’s how you are going to change behavior and keep them healthier.”By the numbers, Dr. Guerra notes that, “iTriage has one of the highest retention rates in the Android and iPhone market, and we have a user base that is growing quickly.”Just a few other stats:

• 19,000 doctors on the platform
• 7 million downloads, with over 3 million usage sessions a month
• 60,000 customer reviews
• 4.5/5 stars in average user ratings on the iTunes App store

Talk about adding Harvard Medical School as a Content Review PartnerLast week, Harvard Medical School completed an extensive review of iTriage’s medical content. Dr. Guerra comments, “It validates what we are doing. People worry because there is so much health information on the web and in terms of trust, it brings us validity and gives our users a peace of mind that all the information has been reviewed by a third party.”Let’s talk…Expansion!When asked about new expansion areas, Dr. Guerra responded, “When we add a new feature, we always ask: Is this feature going to help people make a better healthcare decision? That is our mantra.” Stop by the Health 2.0 Conference in SF next month to watch iTriage debut its new EHR agnostic patient engagement tool, with Mark Bertolini, Chairman, CEO & President of Aetna.