The United States is facing a crisis of capacity in our healthcare delivery system: the convergence of a silver tsunami of aging Baby Boomers, a rapidly increasing base of covered lives with health equity problems, and an overwhelming number of Americans with chronic health issues with the looming threat of future pandemics. Roughly two-thirds of the annual healthcare spend of 4.7 Trillion USD went to one-third of the population in 2023 — older adults facing two or more chronic illnesses. Rising economic polarization and taxpayer-supported coverage have also put significant financial pressure on healthcare resources across the entire US patient population, young and old.
Advances in device technology for remote patient monitoring are making a big difference in our ability to address resource shortfalls by automating processes and extending the capacity of caregivers. However, deficiencies prevent the usage of IoT devices from scaling. These include the extra time burden placed on clinicians to process an overwhelming amount of data when triaging patients’ conditions.
RPM (remote patient monitoring) helps remotely manage many chronic care patients by keeping track of their health vitals around the clock. These telemetric capabilities greatly enhance the ability of virtual nurses to spot health problems early and get help sooner, resulting in reduced trips to the ER and significantly reducing the number of severe complications that multiply the cost of care interventions.
With continuous monitoring of patient vitals and the help of AI to analyze droves of data, doctors can create personalized treatment plans and quickly adjust them based on each person’s evolving health status. This results in a much better quality of care while measurably reducing costs.
Despite the promising benefits of RPM, even with advancements in algorithms, significant inefficiencies and limitations persist. Empowered-Home aims to address the sustainability of access to high-quality care, give doctors back precious time in their day, and reduce the engagement effort of patients required to adhere to their treatment plans long term.
Chronic diseases don’t magically go away, so continuous monitoring needs to be more of a lifestyle change. Current value-based care incentive programs can’t be designed to last long enough to positively impact chronic patient outcomes or care costs. As a result, most programs last fewer than 90 days. Patients don’t always follow their treatment plans as they should either. These challenges significantly impact patients’ long-term health trajectories and significantly contribute to the escalating healthcare costs associated with chronic disease management.
Empowered-Home separates itself from the pack of RPM companies by linking together a unified view of data generated from advanced in-home sensors and the latest wearable devices. It synthesizes multiple data streams for meaningful insights and contextualizes information about the patient’s situation using Generative AI and Large Language Models, effectively correlating a broad array of vital signs data to provide deeper insights, helping clinicians identify causes linked to worsening disease symptoms.
The insights include lack of medication adherence, inadequate restorative sleep, increased levels of stress, high amounts of physical strain, insufficient recovery rates from exertion, alcohol or substance abuse, worsening BMI, and dangerous trends in blood glucose levels. Their approach involves gathering real-time data from patients, giving doctors a deeper understanding of their current health situation, and allowing proactive interventions using whole-person healthcare strategies that remediate the underlying causes of health issues rather than just treating symptoms.
Leading the company is Walt Pistor, Founder and CEO, who brings extensive experience in healthcare technology and digital transformation. With a career spanning over two decades focused on complex enterprise software across Fortune 500 companies, professional services, and startups, Walt has been a driving force in innovating and implementing new technologies within the healthcare sector.
Before founding Empowered-Home, Walt held significant leadership roles advising and guiding large-scale IT at transformations with significant organizations such as Dignity Health, CVS Health, Kaiser Permanente, Sutter Health, Gilead Sciences, and Washington State Health Information Exchange managed by OneHealthPort, where he led major modernization efforts of their data infrastructure to help them be compliant with Meaningful Use standards.
His hands-on experience provided Walt with deep insights into the complexities and challenges of healthcare delivery systems. At Empowered-Home, he leads with a vision to redefine aging-in-place through innovative virtual care solutions leveraging AI and intelligent technologies. His goal is to empower patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers in the evolving landscape of value-based care.
Alongside Walt is John Kelly, who serves as the chief product officer. John brings decades of experience in healthcare grounded in perfecting care delivery processes by leveraging automation and implementing data standards. He has been a leader in the national effort to promote the interoperability of patient data and the integration of that data with AI and machine learning technology to generate real-time insight at the point of care delivery.
John has worked with leaders across the EMR vendor community to leverage FHIR (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) to incorporate decision support directly into physician workflow. He is well-regarded in the healthcare IT community for his contributions to digital transformation across the industry. He provides Empowered Home with deep insight regarding its software development, which is designed to integrate and contextualize information and data from smart devices, turning it into actionable interventions that support clinicians in optimizing the quality and efficiency of their patient care.
Armen Abrahamian, the company’s Chief Revenue Officer (CRO), brings over thirty years of expertise in long-term care insurance and healthcare financing to the team. His career has been marked by his pivotal role in advising corporations, associations, and government bodies on securing long-term care insurance solutions for over 2,000 clients.
Armen’s leadership extends beyond client advisory roles; he actively engages with state legislators and insurance commissions to influence sustainable long-term care policies, addressing the financial strains associated with aging populations. His deep industry knowledge and advocacy align closely with Empowered-Home’s mission to revolutionize healthcare delivery by enhancing care options for aging individuals, promoting independence, and leveraging innovative technologies.
Together, the team at Empowered-Home breathes life into the vision of redefining “aging-in-place” through the integration of advanced technology and personalized healthcare solutions paying close attention to CMS’s focus of the Quintuple Aim. The company is on a mission to empower individuals, particularly seniors and those managing chronic conditions, to live independently and comfortably in their own homes while receiving high-quality, proactive care.
By bridging the gaps in current healthcare models and leveraging advances in modern technology, Empowered-Home changes the status quo on patient outcomes. This creates enhanced caregiver and patient satisfaction, leading to sustainable access to high-quality care. It gives doctors back precious time in their day to do what they do best — care for patients.
