Kevin McGarvey and his team created Hippo Health a few years ago because they saw firsthand the lack of communication in health care, not only between patient and caregiver, but also across departments.
The team of emergency physicians set out to create a universal solution that increased communication using telehealth, for patients and providers.
After going through Boulder’s Boomtown Accelerator last year, the startup was expanding, rapidly growing the customer base using its telehealth solution.
Then, the coronavirus pandemic landed here in Colorado and McGarvey came to a realization.
“I think it hit me during the first or second week of March driving up into the mountains and realizing we needed to drop everything else we were doing and try to put our resources to containing COVID-19,” he told Colorado Inno.
While the company didn’t originally anticipate this use case, Hippo has become a crucial resource for paramedics responding to COVID-19 calls.
Nearly two weeks ago, Boulder-based Hippo began working with Eagle County paramedics to limit unnecessary exposures with potential coronavirus patients and reduce the use of resources.
Patients that call 911 are connected with paramedics that have been dispatched to their home, using the Hippo app. The EMTs then perform a pre-visit assessment from the road, determining at that point whether the person requires in-home care or transport.
If they don’t require either, the paramedics won’t enter the person’s home; saving time and personal protective equipment, while lowering the potential exposure risk.
“We’ve landed in an interesting situation where the technology we developed can help keep COVID patients at home and supported with on-demand services,” McGarvey said.
Since launching this service, Hippo reported nearly 2,800 visits in the first six days of April.
The company has continued to reach out to Colorado municipalities to get them integrated with the app and has brought on development help as the demand for telehealth resources increases.
The company has nine full-time employees, and has raised about $2 million in outside capital since its launch.
McGarvey feels fortunate to be able to help out during this pandemic and the company is focusing its resources to help out during these trying times.
“We’re staying focused on getting the platform out into the community as fast as we can,” he said.
