Suki: One year progress report

We are two years into the journey of building Suki, and it’s exactly a year ago that we first deployed Suki to a doctor. I was just sitting back and thinking about all that we have accomplished in the past year. So much has happened!

At the recent American Academy of Family Physicians’ annual meeting, VP and CMO Steven Waldren, described the case of a Nashville physician who averaged 10 minutes charting for each patient encounter. After using Suki, he reduced that time to around 3 minutes per patient, freeing up time for more face-to-face interaction and other tasks that previously fell by the wayside.

It’s testimonials like these from physicians across the country, from California to Florida, that have motivated us at Suki since our product launch last May. One year ago, we set out to give physicians more time back in their day so they can do more of what they love: care for patients. We are closer to this mission of building Suki into a personal assistant who knows how a doctor practices, how they speak, and which patients they’re seeing.

It’s been amazing to watch our mission in action, and to hear from our users about what they love and what they want us to get better at.

What we’ve accomplished:           

We wouldn’t hear these stories of Suki’s impact without also making huge advancements in our technology. In the last 12 months, we have developed Suki, beyond any dictation or transcription tool, to become a true digital assistant for doctors. Today, Suki learns and adapts to doctors’ commands, becoming more personalized as they use it.

While we began in just a handful of pilots, today our digital assistant can effectively support physicians in any medical setting – uniquely distinguishing us in the market. We’ve had the fortune to test out that adaptability in various settings, including outpatient and acute care, as well as diverse specialities, such as urgent care, cardiology, ophthalmology, and pediatrics, and more. As we grew, we saw a sharp increase in patient encounters – from 100 a week initially, to 800 a week by the end of last year, to now upwards of 1,800 a week and growing. And, these interactions aren’t just a marker of growth, as the more Suki works, the smarter Suki’s AI gets.

This product development and technology improvement would similarly not be possible without assembling a team that we’re deeply proud of – with the culture to match. Thanks to the consistent support of our investors, including Venrock and First Round, what was once a small-but-mighty team of 12 has quadrupled to 48. We’ve added incredible new members to our ML/AI team, and rounded out our team with industry leaders who bring deep experience in technology, from the likes of Amazon and Apple, and health care, from leaders such as Epic and Kaiser Permanente. And, while we’re excited about our new Redwood City headquarters, we’ve also added overseas team members working in operations and quality in India and the Philippines.

The team has not only grown, but strengthened through our mutual belief in Suki’s mission and culture of putting doctors at the center of everything we do. We strive to build technology for the doctor that is invisible and assistive, and integrates into their daily workflow so that they can focus on patients. But don’t take my word for it, look to individual recognition, like our Chief Product Officer Dr. Erin Palm being named one of the San Francisco Business Times’ 40 under 40 or Suki being recognized as the Best New Startup of 2019 in Rock Health’s Top 50 in Digital Health.

All of this has led us to today: Suki is operating in 14 states across the country and helping doctors practicing across 18 specialties, including primary care, orthopedics, gynecology, and surgery. This will continue to grow following our partnerships with health systems like Sutter Health and others that are coming soon.

What we’ve learned:

Progress doesn't come without lessons though, and our first year was full of them. We’ve encountered plenty of surprises and challenges throughout our first year tackling some of physicians’ most pressing problems.

First of all, we’ve been struck by the acceptance we’ve received from clinicians. It’s clear that issues of burnout, EHR and administrative burden, and data entry are a crisis in medicine. Doctors share our passion for solving these urgent problems. This reception has only motivated us to double down on our dedication to physicians, and design Suki to best serve the problems physicians face today and every day as they prioritize patient care.

Second, technology has not restricted us. We’ve integrated with major EHR systems, and our expansion into a diverse variety of medical settings has demonstrated Suki’s ability to learn and thrive in a broad market - from single physician practices to the largest of health systems. As we begin our second year, we’re excited to keep improving our technological capabilities, listening to the needs and feedback of the doctors who interact with the product day in and day out.

Third, healthcare is complex and sometimes, stakeholders are slow to collaborate.  The pace of launching a solution in healthcare is slower than in other industries. This is understandable: since healthcare directly impacts people’s well-being, the industry takes a more conservative approach in evaluating and adopting new solutions. Cash strapped startups need to account for the pace of the industry in their plans and figure out how to deploy resources to accelerate market traction.

Looking ahead:

Our success relies on one metric alone – improving the lives of physicians across the country.  As Dr. Michael Miller, a leading family practice doctor who uses Suki, says, “I went and saw a play last night for the first time in a long time and I didn’t sweat it because I knew it was easy to get my notes done with Suki.”  When we hear from doctors how Suki has given them more time with family and friends, it reaffirms our dedication to enabling even more physicians to focus less on documentation.

In the next year, we intend to make progress on more users, more partnerships, new milestones in our technology stack, and a better product which gets us closer to our vision. We have come a long way. And we have a long way to go. Can’t wait to see where the journey takes us next!