Nearly 50 percent of people take their prescribed medications incorrectly, according to the CDC, a reality that is not only dangerous, but also costly for patients and their insurance and healthcare providers.
But Chicago-based startup Groove Health thinks it might have a solution to the problem.
The startup, founded in 2016 by CEO Andrew Hourani, is a digital healthcare company that helps patients take their medications regularly through an AI-powered mobile app.
The app, which was just released in December, allows users to easily track their medications, receive medication reminders and be alerted to potential drug interactions. The app features an AI-powered bot named Maxwell that can answer patients' questions about their medication. Maxwell also tracks a user’s regimen and how often they take their meds, and sends tailored content to address their specific behavior.
“Our goal is to help patients take their medication more often,” Hourani said. “It [gives] users a lot of cool features that make the daily headache of taking medications a lot easier.”
Anyone can download and use Groove Health’s app for free, but to make money, Groove Health sells their platform to employers, health insurance companies and healthcare systems. Through Groove Health's B2B service, clients can customize the app for their specific pool of users and patients.
“Better adherence means better outcomes, and fewer healthcare costs,” Hourani said.
He declined to disclose any specific clients, but said Groove Health has "a few thousand" app users. The startup raised a seed funding round of $1.6 million in 2017 that helped it develop the app and launch beta testing trials.
Hourani originally decided to launch Groove Health after one of his family members was diagnosed with a heart condition that required him to regularly take medication.
“When you’re diagnosed with something new like that, it’s a big shock in terms of the way you have to live your daily life,” Hourani said. “I watched him struggle with specifically the medication regimen that’s required to treat a chronic disease.”
Groove Health’s competitors include Express Scripts’ Mango Health, a similar mobile app that serves as a “personal health coach” by reminding users to take their meds, and Connecticut-based HealthPrize Technologies, which uses gamification, behavioral economics and rewards to get patients to adhere to their medication regimens.
Groove Health, which employs seven people in its Loop office, says to stay competitive it is focusing on growing its end-user and client base in 2019.
“I think this is going to be a good year of growth,” Hourani said.
