Dr. Dave Miller was tired of giving his patients the same speech about colon cancer screenings and figured that technology could deliver the same information more efficiently and effectively.
Miller, a general internist and professor with the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, has created that technology, known as mPATH.
Originally known as Digital Health Navigation (DHN) Solutions, mPATH’s software platform automatically alerts patients through text messages and patient portals that they are eligible for a health screening. MPATH, which can currently be used for colon and lung cancer screenings, is also designed to educate patients about the benefits and risks of the screenings and diseases.
“I don’t mind admitting that the technology does a better job of educating patients than I can do,” Miller said. “I’m limited in an exam room with just my voice. The technology uses videos, animations and graphics and patients can pause it or repeat a section.”
mPATH
Industry: medical software
Founded: 2021
Top exec(s): Dr. Dave Miller, co-founder and CEO, and Dr. Ajay Dharod, co-founder and chief innovation officer
Address: 500 W. Fifth St., Suite 400, Winston-Salem 27401
Website: mpathhealth.com
Since the startup’s official founding in 2021, CEO Miller and his co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer Dr. Ajay Dharod have been progressing mPATH towards commercialization, with the startup signing its first commercial customer, CHESS Health Solutions from Winston-Salem, earlier this year.
But Miller and Dharod have been working on mPATH’s technology for over a decade, with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) granting them over $6 million to date.
In one of mPATH’s first studies, the software doubled colon cancer screenings in a randomized trial with 450 patients across six primary care practices, Miller said. He added that most interventions are considered a “huge success” when screenings are increased by 15%.
MPATH has also demonstrated that 40% of individuals respond to the patient portal alerts and visited the program, which Miller said was a much higher rate than anticipated.
MPATH is also finishing another large, randomized control trial that has enrolled 1,300 patients across UNC Health and Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist.
MPATH recently received a $400,000 Small Business Technology Transfer grant from the NIH to fund further development and commercialization and a $75,000 matching award from the North Carolina Department of Commerce. The STTR grant is eligible for up to $2 million in Phase II.
The company, which took home the top prize of $5,000 at this year’s Winston Starts Investor Forum pitch competition, is raising $750,000 to hire its first sales staff and for marketing efforts. Miller said mPATH has raised over $400,000 to date, including an undisclosed amount from the Winston-Salem Partners Roundtable fund.
MPATH employs four, Miller said, and partners with Dualboot Partners of Charlotte for its technology development and with CCL Branding of Winston-Salem for its marketing efforts.
And mPATH is even looking to expand its platform offerings.
“We plan to develop additional modules to cover other cancer screening services, but we will then move into developing modules for other routine preventive care and chronic needs,” Miller said. “We very much view mPATH as a platform that we can apply to any preventive care or chronic care need.”
