Jon Lensing, a fourth-year medical student at the University of Iowa, is well aware of the doctor shortage in the U.S. According to a 2019 study by the Association of American Medical Colleges, the U.S. will see a shortage of up to nearly 122,000 physicians by 2032.
“It’s kind of been drilled into our brain since the first year of medical school that there’s a huge shortage of doctors and it’s having massive effects on the population’s health,” said Lensing. “Hospitals are closing because they can’t get the services they need. Patients aren’t getting access to the medical services they require.”
So Lensing, along with a group of others are working to start something they believe could revolutionize patient care.
Together they’ve created Apollo, an internet-based hiring platform designed to help match healthcare facilities requiring temporary positions with healthcare providers in order to help ensure all needed services are available at their location.
“The whole idea is to utilize the already existing population of doctors, make them more transferrable between hospital systems so they can cover those needing shifts and their local surrounding areas,” said Lensing.
Apollo began beta testing its platform about one month ago and plans to run the beta test for three months. Right now, Apollo has more than 60 Iowan physicians enrolled, one hospital signed on and is currently in discussion with multiple other hospitals
“To enroll, you create an online profile where they can house all their case logs, credentials, letters of reference in one single spot,” said Lensing. “And on the flip side, it allows hospitals, private practices, clinics and urgent care centers to go in and post a temporary job need they have.”
They hope to release the platform publicly around June, Lensing told Clay & Milk.