What it does: Provides patients access to healthcare providers, and providers access to medical data, through telemedicine.
How it grew: According to founder and Managing Director Joel Barthelemy, GlobalMed's focus has always been on problem-solving and responding to customers' needs.
That focus has led GlobalMed to the cutting edge of technological advances in telehealth and to an almost-2,000% increase in revenue over the past five years.
“We are utilizing the latest technologies to solve problems and pushing the envelope to answer the problems that come up,” Barthelemy says. “We are a group of engineers and clinicians who look at the issues, and then design systems that solve problems.”
GlobalMed's team of engineers and clinicians has been busy recently. In February, the U.S. Veterans Affairs Department installed GlobalMed's full-service telemedicine stations in the VA Boston Healthcare System, while closer to home, the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based company has been expanding its presence in northern Arizona, including the implementation of GlobalMed's mobile medical carts at the Flagstaff Medical Center.
According to Barthelemy, these new contracts are the result of GlobalMed's constant dialogue with its customers, which help the company know what products and solutions its partners need. “Solving problems is a better way for growth versus trying to create demand for your product,” he explains. “It is one thing to say, 'Here is our product,' it is another thing to say 'What can our product do for you?' ”
That customer dialogue has shown the company the importance of easy-to-access data, so GlobalMed says it is the rare telehealth company that doesn't put video first.
“Telemedicine is most about getting data where it needs to be and can be used,” Barthelemy says. “Other companies have focused on video conferencing, but for us it is always data first.”
Next on GlobalMed's agenda is increasing the access to data and healthcare providers by making telemedicine even more mobile.
“I can do almost anything from my smartphone. Why can't I take care of some of the chronic or episodic type of situations in healthcare through the same device? That is where we see the future,” Barthelemy says.
“So many of the healthcare issues that our country faces on access, quality and cost can be solved through innovation and good work flow.”
Location: Scottsdale, Ariz.
Top executive: Founder and Managing Director Joel Barthelemy
Number of employees: 113
Annual revenue (2011): $26.3 million
Revenue growth (2006-11): 1,975.5%
Website: globalmed.com
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