How to Be Your Customer's First Call, with Zach Reitano of Ro
Jun 17, 2020
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Zach Reitano, entrepreneur focused on personalized healthcare, shares how Covid accelerated telemedicine adoption, the importance of building trust with patients, and the impact of Ro's commercial featuring his dad.
Ro offers personalized online healthcare with a focus on men's health, women's health, and smoking cessation.
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of telemedicine, highlighting the importance of online healthcare solutions.
Deep dives
Summary of Rho's Healthcare Technology
Rho is a digital healthcare company that offers online diagnosis, care delivery, and ongoing treatment management. Patients can visit Rho's website and select a treatment they want to discuss with a doctor. They go through a smart online visit where questions are tailored based on their answers. The information is analyzed and presented to a doctor who communicates with the patient through phone, video chat, or messaging. If treatment is deemed safe and appropriate, medication is delivered to the patient's door. Rho specializes in three areas: men's health (Roman), women's health (Rory), and smoking cessation (Zero). Additionally, Rho recently launched a $5 pharmacy to provide affordable and accessible medication to those in need.
Founder's Personal Experience and Motivation
Zach Ratano, the co-founder and CEO of Rho, was inspired to start the company based on personal experiences with his family's health issues. Having family members with life-threatening illnesses and growing up with a father who was a physician, Zach witnessed the challenges and effects of the healthcare system firsthand. His own heart condition further motivated him to create a healthcare company that could provide comprehensive and personalized care to patients. Addressing erectile dysfunction (ED) through Rho's digital platform served as the starting point, as it allowed for building trust, establishing ongoing relationships with patients, and addressing underlying conditions connected to ED.
Co-founding Rho and Fundraising
Zach met his co-founders, Robin Simone and Saman Rahmanian, through a venture studio called Pre-Hype. They recognized their complementary skills and shared vision of starting a healthcare company. Drawing from their previous entrepreneurial experiences, they quickly raised $150 million in equity from notable venture capitalists to support Rho's growth. The funding enabled Rho to expand its telehealth services, enhance the digital customer experience, and address evolving healthcare needs in areas such as COVID-specific assessments and affordable medication access through a $5 pharmacy.
Telehealth's Impact and Future of Healthcare
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the benefits of telemedicine and the need for more online healthcare solutions. Rho's platform has experienced increased demand and usage, especially in areas like smoking cessation, stress management, and allergies. The pandemic has emphasized the importance of reserving in-person healthcare for cases that truly require it, while telemedicine reduces friction and increases communication between patients and doctors. With advances in technology, including remote data collection and proactive care, the future of healthcare will involve a hybrid approach of online and in-person care, with patients having access to tools that monitor vital signs and provide ongoing support.
When each member of his family grappled with a life-threatening illness—himself included—Zach Reitano found his mission as an entrepreneur: to provide personalized health care to everyone on the planet. In 2017, Zach and his co-founders started Ro. With offerings that span Roman (for men's health) to Rory (for women's health), Ro quickly took off and, in 2019, it was named one of the world's most innovative companies by Fast Company. Zach shares how Covid has accelerated the adoption of telemedicine, why building trust with patients is so critical, and why putting his dad in Ro's commercial was one of his best decisions to date.
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