AXE THE FAX: Health tech startup Consultmed wins $200,000 Microsoft Azure cloud credits in Pitch Perfect battle

A med startup co-founded by a doctor frustrated that his industry still sends information by fax has won more than $200,000 worth of Microsoft Azure cloud credits in the augural Pitch Perfect competition, hosted by Startup Daily and Microsoft Australia.

Consultmed is a digital referral and workflow automation platform that directly connects primary healthcare providers, such as GPs, with specialist clinics and hospitals networks.

Co-founded by Dr Vikram Palit and Stephanie Hodgson, with the unofficial cry of “Axe the fax!”, Consultmed beat nine other startups presenting their pitches to a judging panel Australia’s most influential tech experts and investors to win the Pitch Perfect competition.

His motto for the company is: “We partner with clinicians and healthcare organisations to shape a future that is digital, data-driven and connected.”

Dr Palit said the Consultmed digital referral platform allows referrals to be sent electronically and in turn, specialists use the service to triage and provide remote advice and guidance.

“Referrals are tracked and users notified when the referral has been actioned and an appointment scheduled,” he said.

“For clinics and hospitals our service facilitates real-time communication, automates administrative workflows and leads to faster referral-to-treatment times.”

Consultmed has partnered with Sydney Children’ Hospitals’ Network, Australia’s largest paediatric healthcare service in Australia, with hundreds of users – clinicians and administrators – using our platform to send and receive referrals everyday.

Dr Palit said winning Pitch Perfect was massive for for their startup.

“The Azure credits and promotions package is exactly what we need to scale our service into more hospitals and healthcare organisations around Australia,” he said.

“The recognition, support and credibility that Microsoft provides as an industry giant will really help us to disrupt healthcare service delivery, reduce waste in the system and improve patient outcomes.”

The Pitch Perfect judging panel featured Emily Rich, director of Microsoft for Startups, APAC and partner at M8 Ventures; John Orrock, founder and CEO of  Future Now Ventures; Lauren Capelin, principal of Startmate; and Lee Hickin, National Technology Officer at Microsoft.

Hicken was attracted to the universal appeal in ConsultMed’s pitch.

“Its one of those ideas that impacts everyone either directly or through a loved one, a simple solution to a problem that is long overdue a digital overhaul,” he said.

Other startups in Pitch Perfect included Compass IoT, disability payments solution Spendable, Single Use Aint Sexy, Greener, which recently announced its own $1 million seed round, and “Airbnb, but for live music”, Allegro Live.

If you’d like to catch up on the event, you can rewatch Pitch Perfect here.

Pitch Perfect was supported by Microsoft Australia.

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