Challenge
When a patient arrives with a complex injury, getting them to the right specialist shouldn't be a guessing game. The founders of Ortho Compass — two physicians in the Seattle area — experienced this firsthand: a patient with a complex elbow fracture was handed a list of local orthopedic groups and left to figure it out. They built Ortho Compass to fix that — a HIPAA-compliant platform that matches patients with the right orthopedic surgeon based on injury type, location, and imaging.
Process
Design
We embedded as fractional CTO from day one, leading the design phase before a single line of code was written. That meant translating the founders' clinical insight into a product architecture — mapping the patient and surgeon experience, defining HIPAA compliance requirements, and producing the full UI design.
- Scoped the product with the founding team and subcontracted UX/UI design to expert designers in Mexico to produce the full design before development began
- Defined HIPAA-compliant data architecture and referral workflows
Build
With design locked in, we built the platform from scratch — a full-stack HIPAA-compliant application with surgeon matching, secure messaging, and patient referral management. We shipped a working MVP fast so the founders could get it in front of real users.
- Built the full platform from scratch with a senior engineer
- Shipped a working MVP on a tight timeline
Embedded CTO
We continue to serve as Ortho Compass's fractional CTO on a project basis — owning technical strategy, managing the roadmap, and leading development as the product evolves. The founders get senior technical leadership without a full-time hire.
Other Projects
Stealth startup
We can't say who or what — but we can talk about how we helped a pre-seed startup move fast with the right team structure.
EDK solutions
A custom web application that calculates the environmental and financial impacts of replacing aging PTAC air conditioning systems in NYC buildings.