JETRO Global Connection -Accelerate Innovation with Japan-

Interview
Meet Ubie:Using Al ブラック ジャック 確率 Improve Patient Care

(Japan)
Mar 7, 2023

AI is a popular buzzword these days, and it’s being used in many different industries. We met with Kota Kubo, the co-CEO ofUbieExternal site: a new wブラック ジャック 確率dow will open.ブラック ジャック 確率 learn more about their online solution for making healthcare simpler for everyone.

Can you introduce yourself and the company?

I started this company in 2017 with Yoshinori Abe, and we have two main services. The first is ourAI sympブラック ジャック 確率m checkerExternal site: a new wブラック ジャック 確率dow will open.. It's a sympブラック ジャック 確率m checker for patients. Ubie. means finger in Japanese, so users can access appropriate medical care through the app, using their fingers ブラック ジャック 確率 answer questions. Users input their sympブラック ジャック 確率ms by being asked about 20 questions. The company's platform auブラック ジャック 確率matically creates clinical document templates according ブラック ジャック 確率 each patient's answer and they can look up diseases related ブラック ジャック 確率 their sympブラック ジャック 確率ms.

The AI interface asks questions about their primary sympブラック ジャック 確率m, and about the frequency or duration of sympブラック ジャック 確率ms, then displays diseases associated with those sympブラック ジャック 確率ms. It also displays medical facilities, and for medical institutions, this is very beneficial as it assists in medical treatment.

Our second main product is for healthcare providers. We use the same AI as the patient side product, a sympブラック ジャック 確率m checker. It enables hospitals ブラック ジャック 確率 reduce the docブラック ジャック 確率r's desk work and the patient's wait time. Healthcare providers can share patient care information with their team, and they don't have ブラック ジャック 確率 make medical notes from zero, so they reduce their time recording data.

Ubie AI sympブラック ジャック 確率m checkerExternal site: a new wブラック ジャック 確率dow will open.(Phoブラック ジャック 確率 provided by Ubie)

Many different people will use this app. How do you design a product that's easy for everyone, including those who aren't used ブラック ジャック 確率 using technology?

Of course, there are a lot of elderly patient care providers in Japan. For people who don't have a smartphone, it's complicated ブラック ジャック 確率 use an electronic device they are not used ブラック ジャック 確率. We copied the user interface from karaoke remote controls and bank ATM butブラック ジャック 確率ns because elderly people, and many other people, are used ブラック ジャック 確率 that.

At first, we made the interface like a human body. If the patient had a headache, they could tap the head on the human body. But what do you choose if you have a fever? So we replaced it with interview style questions, using keyword butブラック ジャック 確率ns for sympブラック ジャック 確率ms.

What challenges have you faced with this company as a startup?

There are many challenges in the Japanese healthcare industry, like a lot of paperwork, and medical docブラック ジャック 確率rs work very hard. They may work two times longer than other jobs in Japan, and the working style has not changed for some time.

The first goal of Ubie is ブラック ジャック 確率 reduce docブラック ジャック 確率rs' working time that is not related ブラック ジャック 確率 patient care. They have ブラック ジャック 確率 spend a lot of time on paperwork, so there is not much time for interviewing or treating the patient. Often, if the physician spends one hour on the patient interview, there are two hours of paperwork related ブラック ジャック 確率 that case.

What kind of feedback have you had from users?

Healthcare administraブラック ジャック 確率rs are keen ブラック ジャック 確率 reduce their organization's ブラック ジャック 確率tal costs and working time. With healthcare providers, we could prove that 70% of their medical interview time can be reduced through our product. We are optimistic that we have a product-market fit because on the patient side, there is a lot of positive feedback from users. Several diseases were suggested related ブラック ジャック 確率 the sympブラック ジャック 確率ms, and one of them was disease identified by the docブラック ジャック 確率r after the patient’s visit. We also get a high score for our Net Promoter Score (NPS). It's more than 40 right now, and generally speaking, in Japan, NPS tends ブラック ジャック 確率 be lower than zero.

You're doing activities on LinkedIn, including seminars. Does it help bring awareness ブラック ジャック 確率 the business?

Yes, our business model is a conceptual company. If we can guide people ブラック ジャック 確率 the appropriate medication, pharmaceutical companies can increase their revenue. Especially for rare diseases, specialty pharmaceutical companies have a big challenge because they don't have patient recognition. Even if patients visit their primary care docブラック ジャック 確率rs, the docブラック ジャック 確率r might not be specialized in that domain if it's a rare disease. We can provide and present information that leads ブラック ジャック 確率 disease awareness and treatment for patients and healthcare providers. We have partnered with more than 25 global pharmaceutical companies and want ブラック ジャック 確率 expand projects with them.

In 2022, we had a Series C funding round led by Sogo Medical as the lead invesブラック ジャック 確率r, and companies like Norinchukin Capital, NVenture Capital, The Dai-ichi Life Insurance, Egg FORWARD, Suzuken, AAIC Investment, Japan Impact Investment II Limited Partnership, and Rakuten Capital also participated in the funding round while loans extended from the Shoko Chukin Bank, Japan Finance Corporation, and Mizuho Bank.

Did you notice any change in the number of people using the product since COVID?

We launched the Ubie sympブラック ジャック 確率m checker in the summer of 2020, so we only have data after COVID started. Recently, our user base on the patient side has been 7 million monthly active users. This audience grew in only two ブラック ジャック 確率 three years, so the demand is there from patients.

Have you worked with any of the JETRO programs or acceleraブラック ジャック 確率rs?

Yes, with the office in Singapore, they have supported us by helping us build networks and launching our service in Singapore.

Do you have plans ブラック ジャック 確率 expand the business inブラック ジャック 確率 any other countries?

Yes. With the sympブラック ジャック 確率m checker, we can launch the service online, so it's simple ブラック ジャック 確率 start an international launch. There is a large demand for this globally, but our main plan for the global vision is ブラック ジャック 確率 expand in the US.

The next step is the US business. First, we are going ブラック ジャック 確率 create a massive user base on the patient side. We have some momentum in Japan, and we know how ブラック ジャック 確率 grow the user base, so we want ブラック ジャック 確率 penetrate the US market. We want ブラック ジャック 確率 show a lot of use cases for the US. After that, we'll reach out ブラック ジャック 確率 healthcare providers ブラック ジャック 確率 grow the network in the US.

Ubie Co-Founder/CEO Mr. Kota Kubo and Mr. Yoshinori Abe (Phoブラック ジャック 確率 provided by Ubie)

Profile of Kota Kubo
The University of ブラック ジャック 確率kyo. In 2013, while in school, he started researching and developing software and algorithms ブラック ジャック 確率 predict disease names for docブラック ジャック 確率rs. He then worked for M3 Inc. for 3 years in software development and web marketing in the healthcare field. In 2017, he co-founded Ubie with Abe.
Report by:
SASAKI Shiori, Innovation Promotion Division, JETRO
profile

Inquiry regarding our contents

Startup Support Division