After reading through the Affordable Care Act — all 974 pages — three-time health-care entrepreneur Peter Bechtel came across a code requiring physicians to perform an annual wellness visit for every Medicare patient. That means doctors would have to check a patient’s functional ability, safety, cognition and possible depression symptoms every year. Bechtel didn’t believe busy physicians would possibly have time to conduct these appointments and then input the answers into Medicare software. So he launched WellTrackONE, a service that allows physicians to schedule and document results of all wellness visits.
Q: What drew you to this industry?
A: Healthcare has a lot of innovations. With one act being passed, the cap blew off the kettle and entrepreneurs are seeing chances to make healthcare more efficient.
Q: What resources have helped you the most in starting up?
A: Having a team comprised of experienced business and medical people. We got bootstrapped to handle the first customers. We never lost a customer, and we get four to five new contracts a week.
Q: What is your best advice for fellow entrepreneurs looking to get started in this industry?
A: Become an expert in healthcare and become empathetic. See the problem through the eyes of the customers.