26 | www.Ups tatePhys i c i ansSC . com | www.Hea l thL i nksUps tate. com Dr. Dennis Schimpf started his medical career as a general surgeon in Buffalo, New York, practiced plastic surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina for approximately five years and subsequently completed a master of business administration at the University of South Carolina. His passion for education and the pursuit of excellence inspired him to create Loopit, a social network similar to LinkedIn and Facebook but with a specific focus on health and wellness. Loopit started as a web-based browser and has grown to include approximately 130 businesses in Charleston alone. It has evolved to include various additional cities and a recently launched mobile app that connects health and wellness providers with potential clients and customers. Loopit serves as a validated, authentic source of information on health and wellness to bring the best providers to the users that will benefit from their expertise. Dr. Schimpf’s goal is for Loopit to help businesses and consumers alike. Loopit’s online platform features micro websites for each of its partner businesses, allowing small businesses and independent providers to promote their products and services without the need for a website of their own. Through the site, Loopit users have access to the business’ history, offerings, reviews and educational content. And because 90% of people use smart devices to find their health and wellness providers, upwards of 22 coders worked together to build the recently-introduced Loopit mobile app, which features a live feed with up-to-the-minute information, validated reviews, local events, photos, videos, user discounts and promotions. The app, which launched in April 2022, is currently available both for Apple and Android users. Loopit is part review platform, part database. “People on both the consumer and business side tend to be leery of review platforms,” said Dr. Schimpf. For this reason, many people find their care providers by asking for recommendations from Facebook groups and similar sources. He worries, however, that group-based recommendations are fraught with biases and missing details. By finding a provider solely through the recommendation of online strangers, people might not find what they are looking for, which could delay the health and wellness care they seek. “Because all the businesses on Loopit are reviewed with the same technical assessment using the review platform that we’ve built, only people that have been invited as authentic clients or customers can leave a review. We standardize questions that give users the ability to objectively compare one trainer, dentist or chiropractor to another,” explained Dr. Schimpf. “Saying someone is ‘the best’ isn’t enough.” He believes there has to be more to a review than personal preference to make it valid and reliable. Loopit’s assessment-based reviews allow providers to set standards and evaluate quality. From these reviews, businesses can identify opportunities for improvement, recognize outstanding employees and improve their overall operation based on client feedback. Using this assessment model, “Businesses can get feedback from families and patients that are working directly with employees. They can see trends, set HEALTH AND WELLNESS ALL IN ONE PLACE l oop i t . com go . l oop i From medical practices t centers and everything in By Isabel Alvarez Arata SPONSORED MEDICAL CONTENT Loopit’s mission is to help consumers discover local health and wellness providers by using better information. “ “
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