Corverix

Rethinking reactive healthcare into a proactive virtual health solution 

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Challenge

Level up their product across many technologies

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Solution

React Native development, Product Design, HIPAA Compliance, API development, DevOps, Node development

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Outcome

Successfully achieved HIPAA compliance and met a product readiness milestone for the start of a User Feasibility Study

Quote about working on the Corverix project

thoughtbot has a structured process for delivery that sets clear expectations up front. I feel like I found not only a partner for product execution, but also a partner in thought leadership and business strategy.

Dr. Michael Farmer M.D.
Cardiologist and Corverix Founder

The Challenge

Corverix came to thoughtbot wanting to level up their product across numerous technologies, including achieving HIPAA compliance.

Heart disease is our nation's leading cause of death and the death rate from heart disease for the middle-aged is on the rise. Frustrated by reactively treating patients with cardiovascular disease, Dr. Michael Farmer, M.D. was inspired to launch a preventive cardiology practice powered by technology, which led to the founding of Corverix in 2020.

He was seeing a focus on reactive and illness-based care, rather than a preventive and longitudinal model. In parallel, doctors and health systems were ill-equipped to integrate device wearable technology and biomarkers. Michael felt there had to be a way to guide individuals to change behaviors earlier in life to mitigate the need for costly procedures and care down the road. There was a tremendous opportunity in guiding useful interpretation of wearable data.

The Solution

Successfully achieved HIPAA compliance and met a product readiness milestone for the start of a User Feasibility Study

The COVID-19 pandemic was a catalyst for virtual patient and doctor interaction. The timing felt right to further evolve Corverix with the primary product being a mobile application that helps inform virtual, on-demand cardiovascular care. Corverix began looking into options to support the growth of both the business and their product suite. They wanted to prioritize audience expansion and robust subscription capabilities to begin driving revenue into the growing business. 

Corverix was made up of a variety of technologies and integrations, including an iOS App built in React Native, a website for both potential and current customers, and a provider platform. Having a partner that was able to bring a wide breadth of knowledge and support all platforms out of the gate was important. It was also crucial to find a partner with experience in healthcare, particularly HIPAA compliance. After a few conversations, Michael felt confident that thoughtbot had the expertise as well as the understanding to be his technology partner.

thoughtbot and Corverix took a phased approach to iterating on the platform by anchoring features which directly impact customers’ ability to sign up for a paid subscription. The thoughtbot engineering team outlined a Kanban approach to quickly tackle items with the goal of continuous, effective delivery and weekly releases. The first focus was enhancing the subscriber workflow, which included sign up, payment, ongoing telehealth support, and ensuring data collection of all user attributes was HIPAA compliant. The second phase was focused on bringing together the client and provider workflows, supporting additional data capture, deeper integration, improved accuracy with Apple HealthKit, and integration with the completed subscription-based work.

The Corverix iOS app

The Outcome

The platform was now in a sound state allowing participants to enroll, and opt into a subscription of ongoing care.

After completing the subscriber, client and provider workflow updates, the teams worked in close communication to prioritize and tackle additional platform updates, taking time to think through engineering effort vs. end user impact. Being able to collaboratively discuss strategy allowed the group to work quickly and effectively. The additional updates included incorporating bloodwork into the app setup, revamping goal setting, enhanced notifications, and refreshing the dashboard to bubble up critical data clearly.

The engagement successfully wrapped by the September 1st milestone, in time for a 6-month User Feasibility Study. The platform was now in a sound state allowing participants to enroll, and opt into their subscription of ongoing care. This study will allow comparisons to be made across milestones, collecting the data needed to validate the Corverix preventive solution and ready the business for further investment.

Quote about working on the Corverix project

The best part of my experience was hands down working with the team. It was great to see my product reach this milestone, and it was even better that it was made possible by working with personable, positive, and hardworking individuals.

Dr. Michael Farmer M.D.
Cardiologist and Corverix Founder

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