Whether you’re a 20-year-old body builder or a 90-year-old grandparent, we can all benefit from on-demand medical advice spanning past self-diagnoses we make on WebMD.
Be it the common cold or something more serious, the ability to speak with a medical professional when you need advice – particularly if you have pressing health conditions – is an enormous relief for everyone in the family.
Technology has given birth to countless platforms that connect us with doctors with a click of a button. Despite being convenient, speaking with a caretaker who doesn’t know your medical history often requires more effort than we’d like.
Thanks to Wellframe, a GPS for patient care, caretakers can maintain a close watch on their patients through the Boston startup’s care management platform.
Wellframe is a mobile application and corresponding web dashboard that enables caretakers to provide daily health checklists – such as medication reminders, activity guidelines and educational materials – for their patients.
It’s proved especially helpful for individuals transitioning home with serious health conditions such as having a heart attack, being diagnosed with diabetes or coping with posttraumatic stress disorder.
You can gain a glimpse into Wellframe’s influence, and the power of being able to immediately speak with a nurse, through Margaret’s story.
“We’re amplifying the impact of one nurse; Extending the reach of care in a way that’s more appealing and efficient for them,” shared co-founder and CEO Jake Sattelmair, on 33founders.
The most exciting part about Wellframe is the enormous scope of possibility they have to touch patients on every end of the spectrum.
While it’s certainly not the most powerful use of Wellframe, one of the stories that impacted me most is a nurse who observed a weight spike in one of her patients every Thursday. By following up on his behavior through the app, she learned that he attends a family dinner each Wednesday. The patient now gets weekly reminders of which foods are safe for him to eat at the gathering.
With that in mind, the team’s highest goal is personalization.
“We want to balance personalization and scalability – What it would be like if an organization could send a nurse home with every patient to help them,” Jake explained.
“We know we can’t replace that experience with technology. What we’re trying to do is go into places where there is protocol and deliver best practices in a personal way – Giving a nurse direct insight into what his or her patients are doing,” he continued.
Jake co-founded Wellframe with Trishan Panch, the startup’s Chief Medical Officer, Vinnie Ramesh, Wellframe’s CTO, and Archit Bhise, the Chief Product Officer in 2011.
They’ve since raised $10 million from DFJ, Formation 8, QueensBridge Venture Partners, and Waterline Ventures.
Their Series A, which they announced last September, has been used for Research and Development as well as growing the team.
Wellframe’s unwavering commitment to the patient experience is what sets them apart. Instead of mining them for data, the team’s building solutions that empower caretakers to personalize individual health plans.
When patients are vulnerable they want to be more connected; Helping them feel more cared for on a day-to-day basis is the most valuable thing that we can offer.
To achieve this, the team’s highly focused on improving the workflow for caretakers. By enabling them to receive more in-depth insights, they hope to decrease the time between a patient needing and receiving help.
Here’s an example of the Wellframe dashboard.
The team’s next step is matching patient data with clinical data. Wellframe’s ultimate hope is that each patient will receive their care plan in the way that resonates with them most.
According to Jake, medical instructions can be customized through articles, checklists and videos as well as by time and communication patterns.
“Our priority is learning about the preferences that will optimize engagement and value,” he said.
As a first time entrepreneur and CEO, Jake cites learning as the defining trait of the last four years.
“I’ve done a lot of different things before this. I’ve never learned as much about myself, as well as the world, as I have per day doing this,” he shared.
Despite enjoying the journey, he’s equally adamant about demonstrating the reality of scaling a business from the ground up.
To ground the idealization of startups, specifically the aspiration to be a unicorn, he said: “It’s extraordinarily gratifying. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else, but it comes at a high cost.”
You really have to embrace the journey and feel that no matter what the outcome is, it’s worth it.
To gain deeper insight into Jake’s journey leading Wellframe, including the team’s future goals, tune into his episode of 33founders and follow Wellframe on Twitter here.
Here’s a glimpse of what we discuss:
- The evolution of Wellframe from 2011 to today
- The future of personalized patient care
- The reality of scaling a startup
- Why you don’t have to be a founder to make an impact