Genon Inc. is a startup operating Hifumed, an online dermat. Users of the app include patients who have long battled atopic dermatitis without relief or those with limited access to dermatologists. Many users have seen their conditions improve, enabling them to leave inflamed skin behind, a concept called “graduating from inflammations.” CEO Chiaki Takahara shares with us how Genon results from her personal struggle with skin issues.
Please tell us about Genon.
Our online dermatology consultation service, Hifumed, helps many patients, young and old, who suffer from atopic dermatitis or eczema. Many of the users who were “looking for a cure that was right for me,” “seeking a dermatologist who would listen,” or “almost giving up on healing my skin” report how their symptoms have alleviated or have gone into remission, enabling them to “graduate” from being patients. All the treatments they receive through the Hifumed app are covered by Japan’s public health insurance. Just by uploading their public health insurance card to the Hifumed app, patients can receive medical treatment at the same copay rate as physical clinics.
Hifumed’s treatment involves patients taking pictures of their skin condition and uploading them to the Hifumed app daily. The doctor and patient can check the progress together to proceed with the treatment. After the consultation, medications are delivered from pharmacies on the next day. Patients do not need to trudge to the doctor’s office but still can receive tailored treatment.
Our top priority is securing quality consultation time. Typically, a dermatologist’s consultation lasts for only about three minutes. With Hifumed, each patient gets ten minutes of the doctor’s time. Many users tell us they are now satisfied with how “doctors are attentive to what they say.”
At Hifumed, each patient is examined by a physician for 10 minutes. This is about three times the normal consultation time of a regular Japanese dermatologist.
Please tell us where Hifumed is today and where it is headed.
Dermatology clinics or hospitals are limited in Japan, thus impeding patients’ medical access. Online consultations allow patients to receive care wherever they live without worrying about travel or waiting times.
About ten atopic dermatitis specialist doctors currently work for Hifumed, and about 2,700 patients across Japan, from metropolitan areas to far-off islands, use our service.
Our current treatment retention rate is about 80%, and the user satisfaction rate based on patient surveys is about 90%; both indicators remain high. We are looking into extending our menu to other dermatoses, such as psoriasis, rashes, and common acnes.
We also plan to build a medical service model that converges online and offline by strengthening the relationship between local medical facilities and pharmacies. Further, we are looking into to going abroad to countries with underdeveloped online medicine, especially in Asia-Oceania. In 2024, we participated in the Global Navigator Program run by MedTech Actuator, a healthcare accelerator in Australia, where we were able to network with many local medical professionals and academics.
Please tell us why you decided to start this business.
The backdrop to my vision is that I suffered from skin ailments for a very long time. I had to wait for hours in the waiting room for a consultation that lasted only a few minutes. I couldn’t fully communicate with the doctor due to the limited time; progress based on treatments was hard to gauge, and I had a hard time keeping myself motivated to go back to the doctors regularly.
All of my family members are in the medical profession, so I also thought about becoming a doctor. However, even if I did become a dermatologist, I knew I would not be able to resolve the issues that the patients face, or worse, I could even cause similar suffering. If that were the case, I decided I would rather focus on resolving the issue by setting up a business to improve the current situation.
In 2021, I participated in the Osaka Metropolitan University’s Health Tech Startups run by OIH where I learned how to run a business and gained medical knowledge from professionals. I won the Grand Prize on Demo-Day.
Joined by my team, we started the business in January of 2022. We launched the official version of Hifumed in June of 2024.
We will continue to look for medical opportunities that respond to the needs of each patient.
Interview Date: November 22 (Fri.), 2024
Interviewed and written by Aya Iwamura