Combating Social Determinants of Health
Founders from these nine StartUp Health companies are using tech to bring better health to all people, of all ages, everywhere.
Good health may be a human right, but unfortunately, it’s still a matter of circumstance. Your gender, race and religion, where you were born, how you were educated and what you do for a living all play a role in the risks you face and the care you receive. At StartUp Health, dismantling the social determinants of health is crucial to achieving our 11 Health Moonshots. By 2040, we want to improve the wellbeing of everyone on the planet — no matter who they are or where they come from.
The founders of the nine startups below share in that mission. Cityblock and Vive Benefits are tackling the high cost of care. Henry Health and Hoy Health provide targeted support for underserved populations in the United States. At Yumlish, Shireen Abdullah is changing the narrative for type 2 diabetes by providing nutrition therapy that addresses socioeconomic and cultural factors to dietary adherence. And Ride Health makes it possible for patients to access the quality care they deserve. Read more about each of these extraordinary startups below.
Kevin Dedner, MPH
Founder & CEO, Henry Health
At Henry Health, Dedner is on a mission to increase the life expectancy of black men by ten years, within the next 25 years. For the black male population of the United States, Henry Health provides culturally sensitive self-care support and mental health services to achieve optimal wellness. The company uses proprietary algorithms to analyze patient data to match them with the appropriate therapist for their needs. Unlike other digital mental health applications, Henry Health tailors its branding and messaging services exclusively to black men, and the company equips clinicians and therapists with the correct tools to support users through cultural sensitivity training. Recently, the company launched a therapy pilot program that allows early users access to therapy through our digital platform.
Message Kevin via email at henryhealth@startuphealth.com.
Mario Anglada
Founder & CEO, Hoy Health
Anglada is building a future in which health consumers and their families — whether in the U.S. or abroad — can have their primary care needs met for $100 per month. Hoy Health has created a unique set of interconnected cash-pay products — HoyRX, HoyMEDS, HoyCCM, and HoyDOC — that are designed specifically for the Hispanic and medically underserved markets. All of the products are bilingual and can be accessed via a digital platform either domestically or by extended families abroad. With an established network of 62,000 pharmacy distribution points in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and a formulary of 3,500 generics (80% of all generics), Hoy Health is giving users unprecedented medication access at low prices.
Message Mario via email at hoyhealth@startuphealth.com.
Imran Cronk
Co-founder & CEO, Ride Health
At Ride Health, Cronk is on a moonshot to ensure that every patient, everywhere, can access the care they need. For health systems who face no-shows and delayed discharges due to transportation, Ride Health is a solution that helps disadvantaged patients access transportation to care. Cronk’s web application allows users to schedule rides in advance. The platform calls the rides automatically, communicates with patients via SMS, and provides reports to track ride usage and spend. Unlike traditional services and new entrants in patient transportation, Ride Health is a platform for multiple modes of transportation that automates the ride coordination process and gives providers insight on their highest-risk patients’ likelihood of missing appointments through targeted data aggregation and actionable predictive modeling.
Message Imran via email at ridehealth@startuphealth.com.
Jason Pyle
CEO, Vive Benefits
Pyle is on a mission to universalize financial security by empowering patients to pay medical bills. For employers that offer high deductible plans, Vive Benefits provides employee liquidity to pay for medical events whenever they need coverage, lowering the cost of care, automating tax optimization, and reducing borrowing costs. The platform is part app and part medical payment card, backed by a credit program. Unlike HSAs, Vive offers beneficiaries low-interest loans to provide a safety net for them and helps patients afford care when they need it. Previously known as emPower Capital, Vive developed its technology platform with a robust pipeline of early adopters including a proof-of-concept pilot with US HealthWorks and PhyNet.
Message Jason via email at vive@startuphealth.com.
Jonathon Feit, Christian C. Witt
Co-founders, Beyond Lucid Technologies
After Witt lost his father and sister in an auto accident, he made it his moonshot mission to reimagine the emergency medical service industry. Witt and Feit founded Beyond Lucid Technologies as a way to connect first responders with each other and with their receiving hospitals. The SaaS platform brings together all of the relevant information needed by emergency medical services (EMS) and fire department crews before they arrive on scene, and transmits vital patient information to the hospital while the patient is in route via Beyond Lucid’s proprietary Mediview platform. As of August 2018, Beyond Lucid was serving approximately 70 partner-clients in 22 states and three countries across every EMS service level. BLT has been called “Silicon Valley’s Emergency Medical Technology Experts.”
Message Jonathon and Christian via email at beyondlucid@startuphealth.com.
Kaakpema “KP” Yelpaala
Founder & CEO, access.mobile
Yelpaala drives the vision for his company’s automated, mass-personalized mobile technology, amHealth, along with the global strategy and operations. Founded in late 2011 with offices originally in Kenya, access.mobile has expanded to South Africa and rural communities in the US. Yelpaala is focused on engaging hard-to-reach patients using amHealth. amHealth automates patient communication through SMS, WhatsApp and other digital channels, using data analytics to shape outreach based on individual needs, health determinants and preferences. It also includes an appointment scheduling and patient queuing software. “We’re applying behavioral science, multicultural communications and public health expertise to optimize and automate patient engagement flows that reduce costs for health providers while driving positive health outcomes,” says Yelpaala.
Message KP via email at access.mobile@startuphealth.com.
Scott Cravens
CEO, Julota
At Julota, Cravens is on a mission to create a holistic community-wide ecosystem to improve the whole population’s health. Using their cloud-based SaaS platform, Julota manages the consent and sharing of personal health information between software systems for healthcare, EMS, law enforcement, behavioral health, social services, and all other local nonprofit and for-profit organizations. Where healthcare organizations are limited to a fraction of patient information, Julota fills in the health data gap in order to address individuals in their entirety. No person is dropped, all loops are closed, and the social determinants of health and all related processes are tracked.
Message Scott via email at julota@startuphealth.com.
Iyah Romm
Co-founder & CEO, Cityblock Health
Romm is on a mission to provide better care for neighborhoods, block by block. Cityblock is the first tech-driven provider for communities with complex needs. The company scales primary care, behavioral health, and social services with custom-built technology and invests upstream in highly personalized, prevention-oriented health and social care to drive down costs and improve outcomes. Through collaborations with EmblemHealth, ConnectCare, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Cityblock has exceeded projections while bringing better care to lower-income neighborhoods in the states that these three leading health plans serve.
Message Iyah via email at cityblock@startuphealth.com.
Shireen Abdullah
Founder & CEO, Yumlish
After a diagnosis, when her doctor told her to “eat healthy,” Abdullah struggled to understand what that looked like for her personally, and felt powerless. With her AI-powered digital health company, Yumlish, she’s changing the narrative for type 2 diabetes by providing nutrition therapy that addresses socioeconomic and cultural factors to dietary adherence. By incorporating social determinants of health and cultural considerations, Yumlish creates truly personalized nutrition that empowers patients and impacts health outcomes.
Message Shireen via email at yumlish@startuphealth.com.
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