The Boston App Developer Who Makes House Calls
As mobile technology becomes ever more prevalent, Jacob Sattelmair’s startup is revolutionizing post-op patient care.
Words: Christopher Ross
Images: Joe St. Pierre
As anyone who’s ever undergone surgery or suffered a serious illness knows, the ensuing days and weeks can be as trying as the affliction itself. It’s a period in which people are susceptible to depression and anxiety as they face new challenges in a weakened state. While the healthcare system has been experimenting with digital solutions for everything from health records to robot-assisted surgery, après-operative treatment remains largely analog, confined to phone call check-ins from the hospital.
Recognizing a problem, Jacob Sattelmair, a Harvard-and-Oxford-trained scientist, and three colleagues decided to tackle it in 2011, drawing on their collective expertise in public health, systems engineering, clinical medicine, and artificial intelligence. Their start-up, Wellframe, has since become a case study in using technology not to replace human touch, but to extend and strengthen its reach.
“Four people who’ve never started a business are developing a technology that asks large, conservative firms to change.” — Jacob Sattelmair
At the core of Wellframe’s program is a mobile app which connects recently-hospitalized individuals with healthcare providers. It empowers patients with personalized checklists drawn up by their doctors and allows providers to follow the patient’s recovery data in real time. Like a house call for the 21st century.
Despite the app’s utility, the Wellframe co-founders faced formidable obstacles as they attempted to reinvent how clinical services are provided en masse to high-risk patients. As a former product manager at the Runkeeper app, Sattelmair was aware of the myriad tools targeting already-healthy people aiming to get more fit. Instead, he envisioned a solution that addressed those most in need.
Rather than decamp for Silicon Valley, the founders leveraged their Boston location, assembling a team of brains versed in medicine and tech. Their pooled connections to Harvard and MIT, paired with the cerebral city’s tradition of thought leadership, afforded significant recruiting advantages, too.
After getting off the ground with the help of accelerator Rock Health, they conducted studies at top academic hospitals like McLean, the Harvard-affiliated center for psychiatric treatment, to prove their concept could work. Responses from both patients and providers were positive, and by 2014, they’d raised $1.5 million, followed by another $8.5 million through two rounds of funding. Last year, the Boston Business Journal named them one of the city’s best places to work, and they’ve signed a partnership deal with a national insurance company.
But their eyes are opened to the difficulties ahead. “Building a business is hard,” says Sattelmair. “Every time you solve a challenge, you create two new ones.” But the value of their work is undeniable. “A lot of patients have referred to this as their lifeline. It gives them a structure to feel supported.” A framework done well, indeed.
Tour the Wellframe team’s native Boston at Compass.com.
