When his mother was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer, Greg Jarzabek (PLD 21, 2016) sought out medical advice from specialists around the world: Warsaw, London, Chicago, New York, Boston, Cologne, Frankfurt, Turin, Helsinki, Tokyo. The extraordinary effort gave his 59-year-old her another 10 months with her family. And it inspired Jarzabek to create Trustedoctor.

The digital healthcare startup “focuses on the first half mile of the patient and provider journey,” explains Jarzabek. Through his mother’s treatment, he saw patients with urgent needs waiting too long for care; as a businessman, he also saw the medical industry’s lost opportunity. The solution, Jarzabek says, is Trustedoctor’s secure online platform that streamlines communication between inbound patients and doctors. Hospitals that adopt the platform, can use it to manage and more efficiently respond to inquiries from prospective patients. Patients can upload their data just once and share it with any doctor on the platform who needs access. Trustedoctor also encourages digital consultations, reducing the cost and travel demands on ill patients.

The company—which includes PLD classmates Ivan Zhivago, an investor and advisor, Philippe Schucht (both PLD 21, 2016), a neurosurgeon and Trustedoctor’s chief medical officer, and Lukasz Rzeczkowski, a co-founder—will launch partnerships with two large healthcare providers in Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States later this year. For Jarzabek, though, the company’s successes should also be counted in patients helped. “I like finance,” Jarzabek says, “but I felt this opportunity needed my attention. So, I started Trustedoctor, something that would change the lives of others.”

(Published September 2019)

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