Healthcare innovation is progressing rapidly with the emergence of cutting-edge technology like artificial intelligence. But even as the sector sees significant upheaval, one demographic is starting to get left behind.
Although the U.S. Census Bureau expects the number of senior citizens to increase by nearly 50% over the next 25 years, innovation in senior care has stagnated, with few startups emerging to address critical needs like at-home care.
Drawing upon a personal passion to see the elderly get the care they need, Jamie Gong, co-founder and CEO of Care Hero, is setting out to modernize and fix a broken system.
Jamie Gong’s Journey from Personal Experience to Big Idea
Jamie’s motivation for working in healthcare tech comes from a long history of watching her family care for one another. Suiying, her grandmother, took care of her husband after he developed cancer — that is, until her age caught up with her.
“My grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s eight years ago,” Jamie recalls, “and refused to move into a nursing home. Now, my mother is her primary caregiver, and I help take care of her whenever I can. She’s my source of inspiration in starting Care Hero.”
This passion was spurned on as she earned her MBA at Harvard Business School when, as part of her studies, she spoke to more than 200 families to learn more about the healthcare landscape for seniors and home care.
“I realized that the current system for in-home care is broken,” she says. “For example, I spoke to a lady taking care of her 102-year-old mother in Boston. She talked to 52 home care agencies in her area, but no one could guarantee a consistent caregiver for her mother.”
It seemed like an area that was begging for technological disruption. But unfortunately, not many families and caregivers are willing to put the lives of the aged and vulnerable in the hands of technology. As a result, it’s a field that not many entrepreneurs are willing to go into, despite the sector expecting 7.5% growth over the next five years.
Thankfully, Jamie was prepared for this monumental task. Before launching Care Hero, she worked as an investor in private equity firms, deploying more than $450 million in investments for her clients. Afterward, she built a direct-to-consumer frozen food brand from the ground up, scaling it from zero to $5 million in sales in just 18 months. So when it came time to breathe new life into a stagnant industry, Jamie welcomed the challenge.
How Care Hero Brings Senior Care into the Digital Age
Jamie’s grandmother isn’t alone in her reluctance to live in a nursing home. According to the Institute of Healthcare Policy and Innovation, 88% of seniors prefer aging in their own homes. But as it stands, the infrastructure to accomplish that goal is lacking. It’s a problem that Jamie has become dedicated to solving, hoping to create a resource that empowers seniors to age in place with dignity.
Her vision became manifest in Care Hero, a digital home care platform that helps families find the right professional for their needs and keep their loved ones at home for longer. And as it turns out, the very same technology that once served as a barrier to adoption is now the linchpin that drives effective, personalized care.
“Through our innovative approach to technology and especially AI,” Jamie explains, “we can offer a much more personalized matching process between families and caregivers.” This approach to AI-powered matching factors in variables like the family’s unique needs, the caregiver’s skills and availability, and both parties’ locations in order to identify optimal matches. Furthermore, AI is used to thoroughly vet and credential each caregiver in order to accelerate the onboarding process and ensure patient safety.
The platform also gives control back to caregivers in a way previously unheard of with traditional agencies. Each caregiver on the platform can set their preferred schedules and wages, and they have the freedom to choose the families they want to work with. In doing so, the chances of a good match through Care Hero rise drastically, reducing the high turnover rates that the industry is known for.
Families can also use the platform to navigate the reimbursement process through their long-term care insurance and Medicare plans. Meanwhile, caregivers can schedule and track their time directly through Care Hero and even automate their payments.
Initial testing with a client base of 50 families and 200 caregivers showed high user satisfaction. It also revealed some unexpected insights: The matching process, though based on technology, actually has the potential to make the process more personal than the traditional agency model. For example, one user with Parkinson’s Disease found a college student through Care Hero who drove them to the casino every week.
“We realized that our services are more than just home care,” Jamie says. “We help families get peace of mind, but we also help seniors get the support they want and deserve.”
Demand and interest in the platform continue to grow. Recently, Care Hero was a Gold Tier Winner in the MIT AI Venture Studio, a finalist in the Harvard Innovation Lab President’s Innovation Challenge Ingenuity Award, and a participant in the Massachusetts Digital Health Sandbox Project. Care Hero also won first place in the Morgan Stanley Inclusive Venture Lab Pitch Competition in Boston and the highly selective Tampa Bay Wave Tech X accelerator program. And most recently, a partnership in the Greater Boston Area unlocked access to hundreds of new families interested in the model.
Building the Future of In-Home Care
Thanks to Jamie’s bold vision and willingness to enter what’s considered an unattractive market, Care Hero is already making an impact.
But Jamie is just getting started and plans to go beyond simply matching seniors with caregivers. She hopes to provide “a suite of services, ranging from transportation to home modification, physical therapy, and more — empowering seniors through in-home services, better transportation, and accessible solutions.”
With the direct care workforce expected to add more than one million people over the next decade, Care Hero is poised to provide timely solutions to families and caregivers through a more modern, tech-driven approach to senior care.
