Scaling Healthcare Through Reliable Video Calls: Huli’s 20X Growth Story

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, doctors in Latin America, like the rest of the world, were suddenly unable to see patients face-to-face.

For Huli, a Costa Rica-based health tech company building tools for doctors to manage their practices, this crisis created both a challenge and an opportunity. By enabling telemedicine quickly, they could empower thousands of doctors to keep caring for patients during one of the most challenging moments in modern healthcare.

We recently spoke with Steve Vega, CTO of Huli, about how his team went from having no video consultation in place to launching a fully integrated solution in a quick rollout.

Since the pandemic, Huli has scaled significantly, achieving 20X growth powered by reliable, high-quality video calls. Today, their platform supports a network of over 10,000 active healthcare professionals, making it one of the most impactful digital health ecosystems in Latin America.

Innovating during challenging times in healthcare

With a bold vision to lead the digital transformation of healthcare in Latin America, Huli is building a connected ecosystem that brings together doctors, patients, and complementary healthcare services across the region. Their mission is to empower doctors with efficient, integrated tools that improve both day-to-day operations and the quality of care delivered.

The company gives doctors the ability to manage all aspects of their practice, from appointment bookings and electronic health records (EHR) to billing, patient communications, and now, telemedicine.

Before 2020, Huli had been providing patient consultations face-to-face. However, when the pandemic forced clinics across Central America and Mexico to shut down, thousands of doctors suddenly found themselves unable to see patients.

“We were in a situation where all of our doctors were telling us, ‘We are not able to provide our services to our patients. What do we do?’ Steve recalls. “At that moment, we had to act quickly. Telemedicine was clearly the only path forward.”

Choosing a reliable integration over external apps

Huli immediately began searching for a video solution that could be embedded directly into its platforms. The requirements were clear: the solution had to be secure, simple to implement, and robust enough to scale across thousands of doctors in multiple countries.

After evaluating several options, including Zoom and Amazon’s solutions, Huli quickly realized that Whereby stood out from other solutions in the market.

“We didn’t go with Zoom and the others because it meant that the doctor had to install a different app besides using our platform. That didn’t fit into what we were looking for in the user experience. Plus, they weren’t as easy to set up as Whereby.” - Steve

After making their choice, within only a couple of days, the team had a working prototype connected to Whereby. In a week and a half, the team went from having no telehealth capabilities to a production-ready solution embedded within their platform.

Today, doctors can launch video consultations directly within Huli Practice, without needing extra apps, while patients access appointments through Huli Vida, the patient portal.

Since they use Whereby Embedded, Huli maintains its own branding, which makes their video call platform feel familiar from the first interaction.

The API documentation was also clear and concise, making the integration process hassle-free. So for Huli, Whereby was exactly the solution they needed at the time.

Built for scale: The experience with Whereby

While the initial rollout was driven by necessity, video consultations have since become a core feature of Huli’s offerings. Although the team expected a drop in video consultation usage after the pandemic, over the last five years, they’ve recorded a 20x increase, which has been incredible.

From a technical standpoint, the integration has been refreshingly low-maintenance. Whereby has been consistently backward compatible, which means their team has rarely needed hands-on support. Because Whereby keeps evolving with new features and performance enhancements, Steve shared that they haven’t had to worry about maintenance or bug fixing for years.

Huli first built its presence in Costa Rica and has rapidly grown its user base across Central America. Most recently, their successful expansion in Mexico has made Huli a dominant player in the region with over 10K active healthcare professionals using the platform. A key part of sustaining this growth has also been the reliability of its video consultation solution, powered by Whereby.

As Steve explained, in some regions of Latin America, internet connectivity can be inconsistent. Over the years, with Whereby’s ongoing improvements, doctors and patients using Huli began noticing better quality connections, even in low-bandwidth environments, which is building lasting confidence in the reliability.

In fact, this reliability has become one of their brand positioning statements.

“When positioning our platform, our team talks about how good and reliable our video consultations are in terms of the technology and how easy it is to use. So we saw a huge benefit in integrating Whereby into our platform and being able to offer this to our customers.” - Steve

The team has also recorded a 20% reduction in no-shows since they initially rolled out virtual consultations. Despite a huge increase in usage, they have seen strong increases in attendance thanks to a simple user experience and solid call reliability.

Beyond performance, new features have also enhanced the experience. The waiting rooms, for example, gave doctors and their staff the ability to manage when patients join a session, something Huli users had been asking for.

Huli describes their relationship with Whereby’s Customer Success team as consistently supportive and proactive. The team regularly checked in, shared updates, and made sure they had what they needed. For Huli, this level of support has been invaluable.

Looking to the future: AI and beyond

What began as an emergency pandemic response has grown into a long-term transformation. With Whereby integrated at the core of its platform, Huli has redefined how doctors and patients connect, making digital healthcare accessible, simple, and reliable for millions across Latin America.

Huli’s journey is far from over. As the company continues to expand, it’s also leveraging AI.  From automating admin tasks to getting actionable insights from consultation data, the goal is to help doctors focus more on patients and less on paperwork so they can deliver the best possible care.

Ready to discover how seamlessly integrated video can improve your virtual consultations? Find out more about Whereby Embedded, a video call API & SDK designed specifically for Telehealth platforms.