DOCSF22: Innovation in Healthcare Part 2

In this episode, Katya Hancock, partner, and director of StartUp Health Network at StartUp Health introduces two of their companies and what they're doing in healthcare. She also shares their moonshots: big health challenges of our time. Victor Wang, CEO of care.coach talks about how his company is solving the caregiver crisis with pet avatars. Nicolas Rosencovich, CEO and co-founder of MindCo Health, speaks about how his company uses VR technology as a new approach to behavioral and mental health treatments. Care.Coach combines knowledge from a global team of humans with artificial intelligence in a talking cat or dog avatar that has conversational intelligence making it fun, lighthearted, non-judgmental, compassionate, and empathetic. Its goal is to coach people, primarily seniors discharged from a medical facility, to take better care of themselves. They have reduced the need for nursing home visits, trips to the ER and acute care centers, and loneliness. These pet avatars are currently offered through health plans and will improve members’ self-care experiences. MindCo Health uses virtual reality to immerse the brain and body of individuals in situations that will trigger different sensations and emotions so that they can consciously train and change their behavior. They have used this technology for smoking cessation, stress management, burnout, and preventative treatments. With the help of VR, they recreate scenarios that trigger sensations of guilt, frustration, and other emotions related to the target behavior. These also combine exposure therapy with mindfulness interventions to create awareness and change the automatic pilot mode through breathing exercises. Mind Co Health alleviates the cost of behavioral health therapy as this approach is delivered at home and eliminates the need for appointments. Listen to the conversation Victor and Nicholas have with Katya about their startups. Learn why they are part of StartUp health as they aim to make big changes in healthcare with care.coach and MindCo Health!