Pair Team's Collaborative Healthcare Platform

Technology has significantly revolutionized the way various industries operate, including the healthcare industry. From utilizing AI/ML in bettering radiology and using DNA sequencing for cancer treatments to 3D printed machines and wearable healthcare devices, transformative changes have been made to improve patient wellness and care.

One glaring issue still often faced in the healthcare industry despite technology’s contributions is the inaccessibility of proper healthcare, especially for underserved and marginalized communities placed far from big, developed cities.

To overcome and solve this matter, Pair Team, a Y Combinator-backed startup founded by Cassie Choi and Neil Batlivala, creates a platform that connects patients in need with local primary care providers and healthcare organizations for them to gain convenient access to the right physical, mental, and social care at the right time.

Tackling Disparities

Prior to building Pair Team with Batlivala back in 2019, Choi worked as a registered nurse and observed the different healthcare access problems faced by marginalized communities. While healthcare in the US is already generally difficult to access for even what Choi refers to as “regular” people, the barrier, whether in a social, financial, or geographical sense, is even greater for marginalized and underserved patients.

After witnessing marginalized communities face issues such as lack of transportation, insufficient housing, and food insecurity, preventing them from getting proper healthcare, Choi believed that the key to improving accessibility is through the efficiency of delivery systems. This way, healthcare can become equally accessible for everyone regardless of one’s limitations.

Through this revelation, instead of trying to find new ways of providing better healthcare, like how Proprio built a surgical navigation system powered by AI or how Yidaibao created wearable fall-protecting airbags for the elderly, Choi and Batlivala created a program utilizing tech that is hoped to improve the way existing healthcare systems work.

The creation and development of Pair Team’s platform and services, as well as its ambitious team of nurses, social workers, and clinical professionals, then began.

Collaboration for Healthcare

Whether for those facing homelessness, severe mental illnesses, or physical disability, Pair Team’s main goal is to provide the extra attention and treatment they need to heal and survive. Realizing that this would be impossible to achieve on their own, the startup takes advantage of the digital transformation the healthcare industry currently faces, using technology to lead an all-encompassing level of support for patients through the collaboration of numerous healthcare providers.

Pair Team collaborates with local care teams and primary care providers to assist Medicaid beneficiaries, which are people under a government-funded program who have limited income and resources to cover the healthcare services they require. The startup navigates through a network of health centers and community-based organizations to address the comprehensive needs of marginalized patients and fulfill those needs.

The startup’s platform lets health centers, food banks, clinics, shelters, etc., sign up to work with Pair Team’s own group of providers. Pair Team would choose among applicants based on whether their values and fee of service align with Pair Team’s. Pair Team then funds their collaborators in order for them to assist patients.

Aware of the different needs that exist among different patients, Pair Team does not limit its services to just clinical assistance and medications. The startup communicates with each patient to identify their needs, connecting them with organizations and communities that could address the root of the issues they face and help solve them.

For instance, those facing homelessness would be paired with shelters that could provide stable housing as well as wraparound medical and behavioral care when needed. Those facing food insecurity would be directed to food banks or drop-in centers. Pair Team also works with a handful of hospitals, federally qualified health centers, independent physician associations, as well as government agencies to care for those in need of physical or mental clinical assistance.

Ensuring that everybody, no matter their living condition or financial situation, receives equal access to care, Pair Team also partners with transportation providers that will take patients to whatever facility they need to go. Virtual medical services are also available for patients who cannot leave their homes.

With all of its services wholeheartedly offered to patients at no cost, Pair Team aims to rebuild the people’s trust in the healthcare system that, for so long, has been less than satisfactory and supportive in fulfilling their needs.

Last October, Pair Team raised $9M in its Series A funding round led by NEXT VENTURES. The round also included PTX Capital, Kapor Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Y Combinator, and a few healthcare angel investors as participants. The collected funds will be used to expand the startup’s team as well as the range of its services, which is currently centered across California.

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Job Posting

• Pair Team - CBO Business Development Representative - Sacramento, CA (In-Office/Hybrid)

• Pair Team - Community Relations Representative - Sacramento, CA (In-Office/Hybrid)

• MassMutual - Solution Architect, Cloud - New York City, NY+ (Remote/Hybrid)

• Strata Decision Technology - Software Implementation Consultant, Higher Education - San Francisco, CA+ (Remote/Hybrid)

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