When we last spoke with Pager, Co-founder and President Philip Eytan, the doctor house call-on-demand service had teamed up with Evolution Health, a staffing agency, to ensure a steady supply of doctors. But in a phone interview this week, executive vice president for sales and marketing Andrew Chomer said since then it had embarked on a collaboration with Weill Cornell Medicine health systems through a partnership with New York Presbyterian Hospital.

The deal gives Pager patients access to primary care doctors and specialists within the Weill Cornell Medicine system from board-certified physicians and nurses across specialties such as dermatology and pulmonary to gastrointestinal.

Chomer doesn’t like my use of the word shift or pivot. He describes it as an evolutionary change for the company.

Through Pager app’s triage platform, patients are evaluated and if necessary, referred to a Weill Cornell specialist who will advise on next steps for care. During the teleconsult or house call, a Pager doctor may prescribe or advise the patient on alleviating measures prior to the individual’s appointment with their specialist.

“We have generated enough interest and disrupted the market enough to attract the interest of other health systems,” Chomer said. “[Direct-to-consumer] was the fastest way to prove our value proposition. The next stage is being in-network. By the end of the year we will be reimbursable.”

He added, “The reality is you are not going to displace the payers or the health systems. It is not unlike the growth trajectory of telemedicine from years ago. It’s a slow-moving animal.”

Chomer noted that another advantage of its new partnerships is that it can connect patients to the right follow-up care.

He also suggested that although patients currently go to its app to access its service, different touch points could be added through its partners but that’s still being worked out.

Pager’s move reflects a pattern that many startups take on. Although healthcare startups make the shift from a direct-to-consumer model for different reasons, many seem to use it as a means to an end, to get enough data to validate their approach or demonstrate their value. That’s when they can approach the large companies looking for ways to grow their customer base, make their services more efficient or improve the services they provide.

Among its investors are Lux Capital, Montage Ventures, Goodwater Capital and Summation Health Ventures — a venture fund formed by MemorialCare and Cedars-Sinai health systems.

Photo: Flickr user Yuya Tamai