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Springfield, MO

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A Conversation With … Emily Jones

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Why start DotCom Therapy?
We have been developing this company about a year, but we officially founded it in March. We, Rachel and I, wanted to come up with a solution for this problem we had identified. We went to graduate school together and were research partners. She was working in a neuro clinic here in Springfield and I was working in the education field down in Branson, and we really saw a need. There is a lack of therapists in general. Patients who come through the hospital and need a specific therapy – whether it be rehab after a stroke or voice therapy related to Parkinson’s disease – the doctor recommend to them, there aren’t enough therapists to fill the need. The neuro clinic she worked for had a huge wait list. I was seeing kids who I couldn’t actually make it to see. They would be receiving their speech therapy from a teacher and I would just be supervising.

How did you settle on teletherapy rather than a traditional practice?
It originally started because I had a client in Thailand. It was pro bono. I was contacted by an American family over there that had a daughter going to preschool, but wasn’t being understood and they couldn’t find anyone qualified to help. We did it over videoconference, and I just loved it. It was nice to be able to work with somebody halfway across the world but provide them a needed service. Access is our primary goal, but also convenience. It’s hard with a person who has limited mobility to get into a clinic.

How many therapists do you currently have on staff?
We started doing therapy with just us, but have several other therapists on board now. Besides ourselves, we have one more and three ready to come on board. Right now, we are doing speech therapy and will expand into occupational therapy, physical therapy and behavioral health here in the next year. The need is high, but we want to make sure we build a strong company. It’s a company run by therapists, so we want to be diligent on the business side.

How far is your client reach?
We are international. I have a client in Mexico who receives all of his medical treatment in the U.S. His doctor recommended a specific voice therapy that wasn’t even offered where he lives. If a parent or doctor has a need, they can come to us, and because we are not limited by location, we can connect them with a therapist who is an expert in their field.

Explain the logistics of teletherapy. How do people connect and pay?
Currently, we use e-commerce, PayPal, for payments. The website we are building will incorporate that into our system.

Our standard is a platform for video transmission that must be encrypted from end to end, so if someone wanted to watch your therapy session, they would have a hard time accessing it. We use a variety of platforms right now. It’s honestly up to the patient’s preference.

What about connection with older patients who may have trouble with technology or access?
We offer an initial setup. When they decide they want to pursue therapy with us, we walk them through the process. Right now, it has been Rachel or myself making sure they don’t have difficulty connecting that first time. There will be connection issues, but if we allow for leniency within our session we can compensate. Rachel says, “You may not be that savvy with technology, but you probably know someone who is.”

Where will the business be in five years?
We want to make a solid representation in the world of speech therapy and provide access across the United States and in rural communities internationally. Our five-year plan is to expand this ability. We chose speech pathology because it’s what we know and what we do, but we see a need for those other therapies. Within five years, we would like to be developed and a household name when your doctor recommends therapy.

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