Startups

Home health company Mavencare expands to Boston

The organization, which leverages technology to provide care to seniors in their own homes, also serves the Toronto and New York City markets.

By Erin Dietsche on December 05, 2018

aging, senior, old

Mavencare, a home care startup based in Toronto, has grown its U.S. presence by expanding its service coverage to Boston, Massachusetts.

The company harnesses technology to provide hospital-quality care to seniors in their own homes.

In a recent phone interview, Mavencare co-founder and CEO Adam Blackman explained how the startup’s approach works.

First, it vets caregivers and matches selected applicants to specific patients based on their needs. During service appointments, caregivers use the Mavencare mobile app to collect data regarding each patient’s medical conditions. The company then uses algorithms and machine learning capabilities that identify potential risks in the patient. “That triggers alerts for our nurses and social workers to actively get involved in real time to investigate and take action as required,” Blackman said.

The goal is that this system will prevent avoidable adverse health events like a visit to the emergency department.

Patients’ family members can also utilize the Mavencare app to receive updates on their loved one’s health, give feedback and know when the caregiver signs in and out.

Blackman also discussed his startup’s background story. A physician by training, he spent part of his career working for various health services organizations. When his 91-year-old grandmother fell ill and ended up in the hospital, Blackman experienced how challenging it was to ensure she was getting the best care.

Around that time, he met his co-founder Nukul Bhasin, an engineer who now serves as Mavencare president and CTO. He went through a situation similar to Blackman’s. Bhasin’s grandfather was sick, and his family was unable to adequately care for him at home.

Based on their shared experience, the duo decided to build Mavencare, which officially launched in 2015 in Toronto. In 2016, it expanded to New York City and has now spread to Boston.

Why select the capital of Massachusetts? “[W]e felt that that market had the most opportunities for partnerships across the healthcare system that would value the level of data collection and our ability to deliver better health outcomes for the elderly patients we serve,” Blackman said.

Going forward, he noted that Mavencare’s plan is to continue to expand in the Northeast.

The Toronto company is one of multiple organizations operating in the home health space. Companies like Honor and Hometeam are also addressing the nation’s aging population. When asked what sets Mavencare apart from competitors, Blackman pointed to its use of technology to hire and match caregivers to patients and collect relevant patient data that can be used to identify potential risks.

Photo: diego_cervo, Getty Images