As Covid-19 continues to spread, finding ways to safely bring employees back to work in person is not a new concept.
But Bo Hill and Jody Holmes think they've discovered a way to do it better with their mobile tracking platform, VitaCorpo.
"The platform is focused on helping to adapt to people's own processes and manage and record activities related to get them back into the workplace safely," Holmes said.
Hill said each employee will use the platform to take the workplace readiness survey and track their temperature and blood oxygen levels through the app before going into the office. That information is captured by the app and compared to the employer's workplace readiness standards. The employee is then alerted to whether or not they meet those standards and can come to work.
If an employee is deemed unfit to work, their manager is notified, and the employee is sent for a Covid-19 rapid test.
"This is not just about taking temperatures and tracking blood oxygen levels," Hill said. "This whole Covid thing is a major deal, and the X's and O's of it is just one piece that translates into a whole safety component of mitigating risk."
Hill, who has a background in health care, said the idea came to him earlier this year "like a lightbulb turning on." He began conceptualizing how to bring employees back to work in a safe way and very quickly got Holmes on board.
"It hit me that I had a great partner in Jody, and through the rigors of discussing what this platform would look like... We brought it to fruition," he said.
The pair worked quickly, taking VitaCorpo to market in just a few months. It went live in late summer and is available for Apple and Android users. Holmes said while the original concept was good, the current iteration is better.
"We started with a segment of our current functionality," he said. "We originally just planned to do temperature checks, but then, though, 'Is that really enough?' So we decided to look at blood oxygenation."
"We gathered information and slowly molded the offering over about 60 days," Holmes added.
To ensure the platform would perform, in a way that would be optimal for all types of businesses, Holmes and Hill reached out to schools, local companies, medical consultants and legal professionals.
"We wanted to understand the needs out there and find the gaps and risks associated with this type of product," Holmes said.
The platform is HIPAA compliant and protects the privacy of employee data, Holmes said. Individual users can see their temperature and blood oxygenation numbers, but employers only see whether employees meet the daily "yes" or "no" standard of coming to work.
VitaCorpo is currently being used by several local schools, a Charlotte brewery and an out-of-state parks and recreation department. Hill said they're in discussions with several larger organizations interested in using the tech.
"With flu season coming, on top of Covid, it's going to be super important that we have the distinguished ability to uncover whether someone has true [Covid] symptoms or something that's simply associated with a seasonal cold," he said.
The startup also offers a Bluetooth wearable device capable of capturing hundreds of reads at once through the press of a button on the mobile app. The wearable retails for about $50.
"One pain-point expressed to us with school was the bus. You have to take all those kids' temperatures before they get on the bus," Holmes said. "With this, the bus driver can tap a button and get those stats that say 'yes' or 'no', and it's recorded inside the app on the parents' side."
"Teachers can also use this tool and capture their whole class throughout the day instead of lining their students up for individual temperature checks. It's accurate and much less disruptive," he added.
Eventually, the pair envision VitaCorpo being used by everyone through a public pass that will allow businesses to track the same information on potential patrons before they enter an establishment, Holmes said.
"It becomes more valuable when everyone in Charlotte, for example, is using VitaCorpo Public Pass," he said. "You know everyone is tracking the same information. You understand you're protected, and everyone around you is on equal footing."
