Buoy Health, Inc.

From Wikitia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Buoy Health, Inc.
Private
IndustryHealthcare
Founded2014; 10 years ago (2014)
Founder
  • Andrew Le
  • Adam Lathram
  • Nathanael Ren
  • Eddie Reyes
HeadquartersBoston, Massachusetts,
United States of America
ServicesWeb-Based Health Symptom Assessment Chatbot
Websitebuoyhealth.com

Buoy Health, Inc., also known as Buoy, is a privately held digital health company founded in 2014[1] and based in Boston, Massachusetts with a second office located in New York City.[2] Buoy developed and offers a web-based, interactive healthcare tool that uses artificial intelligence, natural language processing and machine learning to assess a user’s answers to a series of health and symptom-related questions communicated through a chatbot.[3]

History

  • Buoy was founded in 2014 by Andrew Le, MD and co-founders Adam Lathram, Nathanael Ren, and Eddie Reyes[4] at the Harvard Innovation Lab[5], an institution related to Harvard University that provides business incubation and mentor programs.
  • Jack Connors, a Boston-based entrepreneur and philanthropist[6], invested in Buoy’s seed stage as an angel investor in 2014.[7]
  • On March 8, 2017, Buoy launched its web-based, interactive healthcare symptom checker AI tool as a free-to-use service.[8]
  • In August 2017, Buoy raised $6.7M in Series A funding from venture capital firms Optum Ventures[9], FundRX[10] and F-Prime capital partners and angel investors.[11]
  • In August 2019, Buoy raised $20M in Series B funding. The round was led by venture capitalist Bill Hambrecht and included investments from Humana, Prime Capital, and Optum Ventures.[12]
  • In February 2020, Buoy updated its online AI health tool to assess risk factors for COVID-19 and provide care information and resources based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.[13]

Products

In March 2017, Buoy launched their first product, a web-based, interactive healthcare tool that uses artificial intelligence, natural language processing and machine learning to assess a user’s symptoms.[14] The AI health tool uses a progressive series of health questions communicated through a chatbot to offer possible diagnoses and recommends levels of care based on severity and other risk factors.[15] At the conclusion of the assessment, a search tool is displayed to find healthcare providers based on the results of the screening.

Buoy’s AI health tool algorithm was programmed with clinical data from over 18,000 clinical papers[16] and is regularly updated. Updates are reviewed by Buoy’s medical advisory board.[17]

In December 2019, The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published a study on how patients’ use of the Buoy tool impacted their plans for seeking care.[18] The JAMA study found that the used of a health chatbot decreased uncertainty among patients and that use of Buoy’s AI health tool lowered the level of urgency patients in the study originally associated with their condition.[19]

Buoy has partnered with healthcare networks, such as Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin[20], health insurance companies[21] and employee benefit plans[22] to provide custom configurations of their AI health tool.

Response to COVID-19

In January 2020, Buoy partnered with HealthMap[23] to launch a function of their web-based AI health tool that works to triage users COVID-19 outbreak health concerns.[24]

In February 2020, Buoy released an updated version of its online AI health tool with added queries designed to assess risk factors for COVID-19 and provide care information and resources based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.[25][26]

On March 27, 2020, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced Buoy as the official COVID-19 resource for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.[27][28]

On May 22, 2020, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam announced the launch of COVIDCheck.[29] Virginia Department of Public Health’s web-based system that allows residents to check health symptoms and advise if they should seek COVID-19 testing.[30] COVIDCheck is the result of a partnership between the Commonwealth of Virginia and Buoy Health. COVIDCheck uses Buoy’s AI health tool as the program's symptom checker.[31]

In the media

           

References

  1. ↑ "Startup Buoy Health partners with CVS Health on AI clinic referrals". Modern Healthcare. 2018-05-08. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  2. ↑ "Contact Us | Buoy". www.buoyhealth.com. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  3. ↑ "Buoy Health's mission to debunk Dr. Internet". Technology and Operations Management. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  4. ↑ "Buoy Leadership Team". www.buoyhealth.com. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  5. ↑ "Current and Former Harvard Innovation Labs Ventures Develop Projects to Combat COVID-19 | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  6. ↑ "Boston philanthropist Jack Connors, a Democrat, to chair Gov. Baker's campaign". masslive. 2018-09-06. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  7. ↑ "Angel Round - Buoy Health". crunchbase.com. Retrieved 2020-06-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ↑ "Digital health startup Buoy launches AI-powered, symptom-checking chatbot". MobiHealthNews. 2017-03-08. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  9. ↑ "Buoy Health". Optum Ventures. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  10. ↑ "Health startup Buoy raises $6.7 million to invest in recruitment and research". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  11. ↑ "With a fresh $6.7M Series A, Buoy Health plans to grow engineering and marketing teams". Built In Boston. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  12. ↑ Rosenbaum, Leah. "Bill Hambrecht Leads $15 Million Funding Round For Buoy Health". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  13. ↑ "Boston Startup Rolls Out Online Tool To Screen For Coronavirus". www.wbur.org. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  14. ↑ "Xconomy: Buoy Snags $6.7M for Chatbot, as A.I. Pushes Further Into Healthcare". Xconomy. 2017-08-09. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  15. ↑ "The Top 12 Healthcare Chatbots". The Medical Futurist. 2020-01-16. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  16. ↑ "Digital health startup Buoy launches AI-powered, symptom-checking chatbot". MobiHealthNews. 2017-03-08. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  17. ↑ "Medical Review Team | Buoy". www.buoyhealth.com. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  18. ↑ Winn, Aaron N.; Somai, Melek; Fergestrom, Nicole; Crotty, Bradley H. (2019-12-02). "Association of Use of Online Symptom Checkers With Patients' Plans for Seeking Care". JAMA Network Open. 2 (12): e1918561–e1918561. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.18561.
  19. ↑ "New study finds health chatbot decreases uncertainty among patients". MobiHealthNews. 2020-01-02. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  20. ↑ "Buoy Health Symptom Checker". Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  21. ↑ "Humana, Cigna join Aetna in waiving COVID-19 treatment charges". Healthcare Dive. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  22. ↑ "Prepare Your Organization for Effective COVID-19 Response | Buoy". www.buoyhealth.com. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  23. ↑ "Buoy Health, HealthMap team up to quell coronavirus fears, collect epidemiological data". MobiHealthNews. 2020-02-06. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  24. ↑ "Coronavirus: Logan diverting direct flights from China". Boston Herald. 2020-02-04. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  25. ↑ "Boston Startup Rolls Out Online Tool To Screen For Coronavirus". www.wbur.org. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  26. ↑ "How AI Is Tracking the Coronavirus Outbreak". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  27. ↑ "Baker-Polito Administration Announces Travel Guidelines and New Health Care Resources To Support COVID-19 Response". Mass.gov. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  28. ↑ Spencer, Erin. "Boston Under The Coronavirus: New Routines, Preparations And Quiet". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  29. ↑ newsroom, WHSV. "Va. health department rolls out COVIDCheck, a new online screening tool". www.whsv.com. Retrieved 2020-06-16.
  30. ↑ "Virginia Department of Health - COVIDCheck". Virginia Department of Health. Retrieved 2020-06-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  31. ↑ "Virginia, Hiring 1,300 Contact Tracers, Is Looking For Bilingual Candidates". WAMU. Retrieved 2020-06-16.

External links

This article "Buoy Health, Inc." is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical. Articles taken from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be accessed on Wikipedia's Draft Namespace.

Retrieved from "https://wikitia.com/index.php?title=Buoy_Health,_Inc.&oldid=62829"