Everybody is using AI to see what they need to improve their health, but that doesn’t mean they have a store that’s magically stocked with that care. That is unless General Medicine builds it with the $120M Series B it just raised.
CEO TJ Parker has been here before. When he first noticed healthcare’s lack of great consumer experiences circa 2012, he decided to build his own – PillPack.
- PillPack didn’t grow to hundreds of millions in revenue through better contracts or technology, it got there by creating a pharmacy that consumers “actually loved using.”
- What do consumers love? Seeing actual prices, comparing their options, and choosing the one that works best for them.
General Medicine brings that same ethos to… general medicine. Who would’ve thought.
Say Dr. AI tells you to check your cholesterol. To turn that advice into care, you still have to identify the right test, determine if you need an order, and find somewhere you can go to get it.
- If the result comes back high, the same problem repeats with treatment.
- What you need is a store. Easier said than done in healthcare (per usual).
Take the cholesterol example:
- Clinicians, payers, and labs might all have different definitions for the same test.
- Two tests that look identical can be clinically different.
- Other times they’re identical in every way that matters except billing.
General Medicine is the missing product catalog. It put 2,900 distinct medications, labs, telehealth visits, and select in-person care in a single searchable store.
- GM doesn’t provide all that care itself. It lets you browse options from its own medical group, or connect with clinicians anywhere in the country through the same storefront.
- That works because GM defines the product first, then maps everything back to it. The store then combines benefits, contracted rates, and manufacturer discounts to show customers what their care will actually cost before they decide.
Product definitions are only half the problem. You also have to understand your customer. GM gathers an average of 11 years of health history for each of its customers.
- When you search for a cholesterol test, GM already has your history and coverage information, so you can easily compare labs and treatment options if needed.
- For $15, a GM clinician will review your history and results, determine which treatments are appropriate, and help make any changes if there’s side effects down the road.
Sound too good to be true? Maybe, but a16z believed in the vision enough to lead a nine-figure round, and the store won’t have any problem getting people through the door if it can recreate some of the consumer magic we’ve already seen with certain packaged pill companies.
The Takeaway
Healthcare has always been organized by who delivers care, not what someone is trying to accomplish. General Medicine is building its store the other way around, and $120M should be enough to tell which way consumers prefer.
