Filling the Care Gap between Care Visits

by RaeAnne Marsh

IMNA Solutions, an Israel-based software company with its U.S. headquarters in Scottsdale, provides real-time monitoring and interventions in-between clinic visits to support ongoing relationship between patients and care teams. Its IMNA Health platform optimizes recommendations for patient management that improve quality of care and reduce hospital visits and cost of care.

“One of the primary ways we achieve this is by filling the treatment gap for chronic illness patients,” explains co-founder Meirav Naor- Weinstock. “It’s typical for these patients to go weeks or months without seeing their physician, and a lot can go wrong during that time. Because of this, IMNA Solutions provides real-time data monitoring and automated decision support to keep track of patient conditions and combat issues as they arise. We track everything from sleep patterns, dehydration, perspiration and more while patients are at home, and we alert physicians and care teams of any potential concerns.” Treatment, she notes, can then be updated in-real time to ensure optimal patient outcomes without having to wait until the next visit.

The system is also able to look at each condition agnostically, not as “underlying conditions” that can lead to poor healthcare outcomes. “Our platform is able to do this by using predictive analytics and artificial intelligence to collect and extract patient healthcare information from multiple sources,” Naor-Weinstock explains, noting, “By having all relevant data readily available, physicians are more equipped to choose the best treatment path for patients. For example, if records indicate the patient is a piano player, the doctor would be more likely to choose a treatment approach that doesn’t affect hand movement.”

The company was initially founded by Israel Haikin in 2014 to fill the need for secure communication. He has an extensive background in cybersecurity, and, as the former head of the Israeli CIA, saw first-hand what can happen when communication isn’t secure. Naor-Weinstock joined the company in 2016 and extended Haikin’s concept to the healthcare space. “A person’s medical records is incredibly valuable information, and I understood the need for secure communication between patients and providers,” she says.

“What inspired me to extend the technology to the healthcare industry was my experience as a cancer caregiver to my late husband. I saw the holes in the treatment process, and I knew I could create a solution to make treatment more seamless for patients and their care teams. It’s not uncommon for patients and caregivers to take the lead role in understanding their treatment and discovering the options that are the best fit for them. Patients and caregivers are forced to spend hours navigating the incredibly complex healthcare landscape alone, and IMNA Solutions exists to prevent that. IMNA actually stands for ‘I am Not Alone,’ because we don’t want anyone going through a chronic illness to ever feel like they’re not supported. Communicating with physicians is a hardship in itself, and IMNA aims to make the process easier for physicians and patients alike.”

In founding and growing the company, Haikin and Naor-Weinstock sought help from leaders across Arizona and Israel to provide the guidance needed to accelerate the growth of IMNA Solutions, and continue to seek engagement with VCs and angel investors, as well as leaders in healthcare and technology to help raise the visibility of their solution in the marketplace.

Another challenge, shares Naor-Weinstock, is finding partners in healthcare who aren’t skeptical of tech. “We’re currently working on convincing clinics and providers that we’re working with them, not telling them what to do. We understand that for our solution to provide value, it must be synergetic with existing tools, as well as the day-to-day lives of patients and providers.

“I co-founded IMNA Solutions with the goal of helping clinical staff drastically improve healthcare outcomes for patients, and it’s that purpose that guides us to continue innovating. In terms of growing IMNA Solutions, investors can feel our passion for reimagining healthcare, and that has allowed us to continue expanding at a steady rate.”

Earning numerous recognitions as company and for its founders, the IMNA Health platform has yielded impressive results since its founding in 2014. Naor-Weinstock reports an average increase in patient engagement of 39 percent by clinicians who use IMNA Health have shown, a 48-percent increase in patient adherence to treatment, a 60-percent decrease in administrative work and a 35-percent decrease in unnecessary doctor visits.

[Did You Know: Co-Founders Recognized: Israel Haikin was chosen as the CEO of the Leading Innovative Company in the Middle East in 2017 and Meirav Naor-Weinstock was selected as one of Israel’s 10 leading female entrepreneurs in 2017.]

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