Did you know that doctors spend around 4 hours and maybe more doing administrative work around their patients? Daily!

Going to the doctor in recent years has been a traumatic experience. First. patients had to wait to get their turn. Having to wait some more for the doctor to finish prescribing and writing down every note for the patient that just left, patients become frustrated.

What if all of this could be evaded? What if there was some way that doctors could skip this whole administrative process and jump right to patient care?

Say hello to Augmedix - the first tech-enabled service that rehumanizes doctor-patient relationships. Ian Shakil and Pelu Tran are the genius minds behind this great invention. Their invention saved doctors countless hours and brought back the connection they used to have with their patients.

The story of how this idea blew up the market is astounding. Let’s get your next appointments in check!

Medical Enthusiasts

Always being an energetic child, Ian Shakil knew from a young age that he wanted to invent something that would bring gain to everyone. Medicine seemed like the obvious choice.

Even in high school, Ian always had a knack for bringing his ideas to life by twisting a few bolts and nods. Ian became the president of the first robotics team of his high school, which only fired up his ambitions even more.

When young Ian concluded that engineering was also his passion, he decided to add that to the mix. Eager and willing, Ian had a clear vision about his near future and decided to study Biomedical Engineering at Duke University.

Courageous Ian reached a new level when he graduated from Stanford University and got his Master’s Degree in Business Administration.

Pelu Tran is the other bright star of this remarkable duo. Working his way through high school and getting into Stanford, Pelu earned himself a Bachelor’s degree in Biomechanical Engineering.

Later on, young Pelu decided to dip his toes into the medical world and embarked on an educational journey towards attaining a Master’s degree from Stanford University. During his master’s, Pelu worked at the hospitals and clinics in his community and that is where he experienced the piles of administrative work doctors face every day.

This was the tipping point in Pelu’s life. He decided that it was time for things to change and turned his full attention to the idea we see today - Augmedix!

A Journey to Medical Giants

As part of his studies, Ian never stopped in his passionate drive for healthcare and took part in many activities. Ian was the co-president of the healthcare club at Stanford and part of the entrepreneurship club. Ian even took some study trips to Israel and Nigeria where he further boosted his knowledge.

Ian took many internships and part-time jobs, all with the idea of getting to know the practical world and what could be improved. It was during his time at Stanford University when Ian stumbled upon the idea for Augmedix while chatting with some friends that worked on Google Glass. Coincidentally, that is when Ian met Pelu.

Both driven with a desire to bring better things to the world, Ian and Pelu sat and talked about the idea of merging AI, transcribing, and medicine. Pelu provided the information on how hospitals worked, while Ian added his vast skill set.

Seeing that doctors were slowly beginning to lose the connections with their patients, and were especially swamped with administrative tasks, Ian and Pelu started thinking. More and more young people speak English and are well versed in the technological world, so why not connect them with those that need their help?

This trail of thought brought Augmedix!

Decluttering the Piles

While in his studies, Pelu was diligently working on achieving his dreams. When he met Ian, they both decided that it was time to shake things up in the medical world - this time for the better!

Putting his Master’s degree on hold, Pelu joined forces with Ian and in 2012, both of them established Augmedix. Their goal was simple - help the doctors bring back the bond they had with their patients.

Ian and Pelu believed that If they could eliminate the paperwork from the equation, then both sides would be perfectly happy. And this is what they set off to do. Adding remote transcribers gave the ability to health workers to fully focus on their patients.

And the best part was when they joined forces with Google Glass. This made this whole process 10-times easier. Now doctors could get their reminders or patient information by just voicing out their needs.

This upped the game for Augmedix, enabling the company to reach over 500 independent clinicians, hospitals, emergency departments, etc.

The only problem that may be concerning is context. It’s hard for an AI to accurately place phrases, especially if the doctor/patient is using their hands to point to things. However, Augmedix has this covered too, with their human scribes - a remote documentation specialist.

Standing on Solid Financial Ground

The journey of establishing and growing Augmedix has been a jolly one. When Ian and Pelu first presented their idea, many thought that it couldn’t be coupled with Google Glass or any other similar product. However, there were those who still believed and saw the hidden power such an undertaking had.

The founders got their seed round in 2014 which reached $7 million. Slowly, Ian and Pelu saw the light of more venture rounds and managed to increase their capital.

In 2020, Augmedix chose to open its door to the public and it began trading shares on the OTC markets through a reverse merger with Malo Holdings.

With 6 funding rounds, Augmedix managed to reach an astonishing $93.2 million. Just in their latest funding - which was from an IPO, Ian and Pelu received $15 million.

As success doesn’t come easy, Augmedix had to shake off some competition coming from companies like NextGen Healthcare EHR, Nuance Dragon Medical One, and Robin Healthcare among others.

Recently, the company raised around $40 million by offering 10 million shares for $4 each. In this underwritten public offering, the founders granted their insurers a 30-day period in which they could purchase an additional 1.5 million shares at a public offering price.

Stay Tuned - Augmedix Is on the Rise!

Augmedix is a platform that provides doctors with around 35 specialties - reminders, orders, even live support during their check-ups. All of the features go toward establishing a conversation between the doctor and their patient and then transcribe them into precise medical documentations.

Based in San Francisco, and with around 500 employees, Augmedix is on a growing spree. With Ian as CEO and Chairman of the Board, Augmedix is a company that’s restlessly working on perfecting the breakthrough idea the founders had.

The reach Augmedix currently has is big, but the founders know that it has potential for more - and they are planning on reaching that high. Not long ago, Augmedix’s services were connected to emergency departments. Augmedix’s services also work with telehealth.

Aside from Google Glass, Augmedix is designed to work with smartphones or other devices, as well - everything to help their target group. Moreover, the apt employees in Augmedix are working on developing a way for their service to connect to augmented reality technology.

Nonetheless, Ian mentioned that they continue upgrading their Notebuilder and Automatic Speech Recognition modules to help their scribes.

On the other hand, Pelu mentioned that they are also focused on providing their service to more clinics and doctors and easing their working days. Long-distance connections between doctors are also a possibility that they would like to try and develop in the future.

Being an iconic and innovative service is what they aim for. Of course, the increase in automation is always a plus to their concept.

Finally, a way to skip the long wait at the doctor’s office. Grab your bag and off to your 5-minute check-up!