Following a wide adoption of telemedicine during the pandemic, the founder of a new startup in Latham thinks his product can push it a generation further.
VivaLynx has aggregated multiple types of telemedicine and remote patient monitoring technology into a single system that can help aging patients and those with disabilities live at home independently.
“It's as though somebody flipped a switch and telemedicine vaulted 10 years into the future,” said Lou Pierro, founder of VivaLynx. “We think that the technology we're developing and the app we're developing at VivaLynx has the same potential.”
Pierro is the founder and part owner of Apollo Care, the company that owns VivaLynx as well as EverHome Care Advisors, which offers care coordination and care management services.
That’s in addition to his work as founding partner of law firm Pierro, Connor & Strauss, where he specializes in elder law and estate planning. EverHome spun out of the law firm about three years ago. Development of the VivaLynx tech started in earnest about 18 months ago, with release of the app in May.
Pierro said the establishment of those two companies has come as health care is shifting toward keeping people out of hospitals and nursing homes. At the same time, the overall shortage of health care workers includes home health care.
“The factor that bridges that gap is technology,” Pierro said.
The VivaLynx platform enables assigned remote care coordinators to keep track of a patient’s vitals and activity through a variety of ways. The assigned care coordinator can view all of the patient’s data through the VivaLynx app.
Besides regular two-way telemedicine video calls, the system includes cameras and sensors installed at home that can help keep track of a patient’s well-being.
The sensors detect things like motion, whether a door is opened or closed, whether someone is in bed or out of bed, and more. If anything is out of the norm – like someone is in bed longer than usual – that gets flagged for follow-up by a caregiver.
Anything that an in-home caregiver does, like collection of vitals, is also monitored through the platform.
It’s a lot of complicated tech that has been converged into one place, but Pierro says it’s user-friendly for digital non-natives.
“There is a huge problem with the adoption of technology. But all of this technology has been engineered to be hands-free for the patient in the home,” Pierro said.
Software by Troy-based UCM Digital Health has been integrated into the platform, so patients are able to contact emergency services if needed. A partnership with Hudson-based company UTM: Healthcare enables the remote monitoring. The general video call tech comes from Virginia-based Alarm.com. The touchscreen tablet comes from Wisconsin-based GrandCare.
“What we try to do is shop for best-in-class technology for each function within the home,” Pierro said.
The plan is to add other functions over the next year, as well, like bill paying, fraud and identify-theft protection for seniorsand legal services.
Alan Evans of Saratoga-based ReWire has been project manager of the system development.
The primary testing ground for the tech is Columbia Memorial Hospital in Hudson in partnership with UTM. Starting this month, one of the EverHome nurses will work at the hospital with patients who need additional monitoring once discharged. The pilot is being completed through a nonprofit called EverHome Columbia Inc. with funding by Hudson nonprofit Home for the Aged.
Pierro said VivaLynx is working closely with the New York State Office for the Aging to expand the services to other parts of the state. The company is in business discussions with leaders in the four-county Capital Region and Onondaga County, which includes Syracuse. He says there’s been strong interest from health care systems and insurers as the region continues moving toward a value-based payment model of care.
From there, the plan is to spread nationally. The Apollo Care board includes John Baackes, CEO of L.A. Care Health Plan in California, he said.
“We've targeted about 10 markets where we think the population would be the most receptive and the most plentiful for the services that we're providing,” Pierro said.
Pierro plans to work on a series A funding round this fall.
