Veterinary care can be demanding - that is why we are dedicated to taking care of our own
myBalto's purpose is to make pet care more affordable and to improve the lives of pets, owners, and veterinarians.
About myBalto
As an emergency veterinarian, Dr. Robert struggled with the number of patients he would see that would receive inadequate care because of not having access to their medical records. The lack of information would often result in higher expenses for the owners because those diagnostics/treatments would have to be repeated. After discussing it with his brother, Nathan, they realized that they could not only serve as a bridge of communication between the various veterinary medical record systems, but they could also help address the growing cost of pet care as a whole.
myBalto was created because owners are too often forced to make decisions for their pets based off of what is in their wallet, and not what is in their pet's best interest. With myBalto, we are looking to change that narrative. We believe we can do more, together. That is why owners are not only saving money by using our platform, but they are also saving the lives of other pets with every purchase they make through myBalto.
Just as Balto, the alaskan sled dog, helped deliver life-saving medicine to the children of Nome, Alaska, myBalto is your guide to delivering the information you need to take care of your furry children.
Meet the CEO
Inspired by Veterinarians, Startup Professionals and Innovatiove Thinkers
A life-long learner and health enthusiast, Dr. Robert’s passion has always centered around helping others and bringing people together. As an emergency veterinarian for the last seven years, he saw how having inconsistent access to his patient’s medical records often resulted in increased costs for pet owners. From that need spawned the creation of myBalto with his brother, Nathan. When not working to improve the lives of our pets, Dr. Robert spends time with his one-eyed husky, Loki, in the beautiful city of San Diego.
Board of Directors
Inspired by Veterinarians, Startup Professionals and Innovative Thinkers
Dr. Sam comes from a family of doctors, and grew up trying to save any creature she came across. In her practice as a small animal veterinarian, she strives to make caring for her patients stress free and as accessible to her pet parents as possible. Working to help make the vision of myBalto a reality has been an inspiration to her, especially after seeing first hand the struggle some have to do what’s best for their pets due to cost of care and access to good information. She is a proud wife and mother of three human children, a goofy lab, and two rescue Guinea pigs.
Dr. Sheila McCullough is a highly experienced veterinarian with 36 years of dedicated service in the field. She is double boarded in internal medicine and critical care, which reflects her expertise and dedication to providing the best possible care to animals in need. Dr. McCullough's passion for teaching is evident in her work, as she enjoys mentoring and instructing veterinarians at all levels. When not working, Dr. McCullough can often be found outdoors with her rescue dog, Newman. She also enjoys cooking, despite admitting that she's not too good at it!
As a serial entrepreneur and technology-lover, Nathan has spent 10+ years in the FinTech, start-up industry. Following graduation at DePaul University, Nathan found his niche in streamlining business operations and introducing technology to expedite production. Since then, he has helped numerous companies create high-level MVP's, and has helped secure over 10M in financing through Series B rounds.
FAQ
Yes, the myBalto Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) and holds a tax-exempt status wit the IRS. Any individual who donate to the myBalto Foundation can claim a tax deduction on their return.
Our goal is to help as many vet hospitals as we can and the best way to do that is to offer the myBalto Charitable Fund as a FREE service. However, to help cover our overhead costs and software fees, we take between 5% - 8% of the funds accumulated by each hospital, and is reviewed semi-annually by the Board of Directors.
We think this goes without saying, but the only true restriction is no "cosmetic" procedures (i.e. lipoma removals, ear cropping, tail docking, etc). The goal of this fund is to serve as a last resort when options such as Care Credit, Scratch Pay, and other financial options have been exhausted.
Yes, they have to subscribe to our FREE plan so we can locate their pet in your hospital's myBalto platform to submit the claim. It takes less than five minutes to download the myBalto app and add their pet's information. They also receive other awesome financial benefits of the myBalto app as well when they sign up!
Once you submit the final vet bill and the claim is approve, we can initiate the transfer of funds within the next two-five business days depending on your bank.
Yes, we do ask for permission to access pet medical records for two reasons: 1) in order to maintain compliance and to adhere to regulations, we need to be able to randomly check Charitable Fund submissions from various hospitals to make sure funds are not being used inappropriately. Having access to pet's records allows us to confirm the submitted claim was performed in earnest. And 2) giving owner's 24/7 access to their pet's medical records saves your staff countless hours on calling for and sending pet medical records. Its been shown to make hospitals more efficient and help your doctors see more patients because they aren't waiting for medical records to arrive from other hospitals.
We raise money for your individual hospital by connecting to your point of sales (POS) system (this may be your veterinary management system or a 3rd party vendor). When owners are checking out of your clinic, they will be asked to round up to the nearest $1, $3, or $5. All funds raised go directly to your hospital fund!
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myBalto Foundation 501(c)(3) is a registered nonprofit and holds a tax-exempt status with the IRS.