Discover more about our members and digital health community.
Health Foundry Newsletter: October 2022
Our October newsletter is here! Click through to read about our upcoming events, digital health opportunities and more, as well as our Member Spotlight on one of our long standing members, Thalamos.
Happy October members & friends 🎃
Winter isn’t far away and there’s a small number of sleeps until Christmas!
It’s also an exciting time at Health Foundry as our programmes and events continue to grow and we welcome a new team member onboard, our Community & Marketing Lead Tasha Wait.
Follow the link here to read more, including upcoming events, opportunities and our October Member Spotlight on one of our long standing members, Thalamos.
Member Feature: LVNDR Health
LVNDR Health; LGBTQ+ sexual healthcare with you at the centre.
Each month, we highlight one of our amazing members doing amazing things in digital health and beyond. Our August member feature is written by and about one of our fantastic new members LVNDR; a free service giving LGBTQ+ people equal access to healthcare.
LVNDR Health was founded by Christopher El Badaoui and Araxie Boyadjian with an aim to increase accessibility and the quality of LGBTQ+ care across the UK. In 2021, they raised £1.5Mn to tackle this problem space. LVNDR Health is a platform offering LGBTQ+ sexual healthcare services designed and enabled by queer specialist providers to deliver more equitable care through an end-to-end virtual care app.
What are LVNDR Health doing?
A 2018 Stonewall report has revealed that 1 in 8 LGBTQ+ individuals avoid seeking care due to fear of discimination by healthcare professionals. These numbers are also far more concerning for LGBTQ+ people of colour, with 1 in 5 avoiding care for the same reasons; and these are just the statistics we know about. LGBTQ+ individuals deserve safe spaces to access care no matter where or who they are.
LVNDR Health connects users to sexual health clinicians with specialist experience and interest in LGBTQ+ health via the app to provide timely consultations and care. LVNDR care is provided inclusively, without assumptions or judgement. Our goal is to reduce waiting times, increase attendance and follow-up, and achieve greater user satisfaction and health outcomes as a result for a community that is so often overlooked and seldom the focus for health innovation.
The LVNDR team are looking to launch their first pilot project in the next few months with a view to validate their health economic and health outcomes framework, developed in part with support with the DigitalHealth.London team (LVNDR are currently part of the prestigious DH.L accelerator programme). This evaluation will examine the return on investment and other commercial health outcomes for this novel remote model of care that can support the currently overwhelmed NHS services as a result of both Covid-19, and more recently monkeypox.
What is next for LVNDR Health?
LVNDR has recently engaged with two large NHS trusts in London to build a predictive model of their remote service as part of a joint submission for the NHS Transformation Directorate Partnership Fund for up to £500K, that if successful would launch before the end of the year.
We are currently looking for Introductions to Healthcare professionals, individuals or organisations with particular experience of selling services to the NHS. We're also keen to connect with partners for pilot projects and additional joint-funding bids.
We're really excited to have LVNDR Health join the Health Foundry community this month. If you'd like to connect with the LVNDR team, contact them here.
Words: LVNDR Health
If you’d like to connect with Chris, Araxie and the LVNDR Health team, contact them here.
Health Foundry Newsletter: September 2022
Our September newsletter is here! Click through to read about our upcoming events, industry events and more, as well as our special member feature by LVNDR Health.
Health Foundry turns 6 🎈
Imagined as a healthtech hub in the broadest sense, Health Foundry was set up in 2016 to test and learn about the conditions needed to support the early stages of digital innovation in health and wellbeing.
The space in 1 Royal Street was originally designed to hold a nursery for Guy’s and St Thomas' staff, but in 2016, it was renovated and the Health Foundry workspace was born!
Powered by Guy’s and St Thomas' Foundation and delivered by Architecture 00, Health Foundry is an innovative community and co-working space with a mission to support, connect and enable startups working to improve health and wellbeing.
We believe that the best digital health solutions are not created in isolation but by bringing together a diverse range of people who understand healthcare challenges, as well as digital solutions and opportunities
For the past 6 years we've supported over 80 organisations working in digital health by providing a collaborative work and event space where our community can access curated programming, events and learning, as well as shared resources, and where joint working and relationship building is engendered through a local team of hosts and connectors.
On our 6th year, as with every year, we'd like to extend a big thank you to our amazing members, partners, stakeholders and supporters, for being apart of our community and helping us in our mission to accelerate innovation. Together, transforming healthcare!
Read more in our September newsletter here, including a special member feature as well as upcoming events, opportunities and more!
Health Foundry Workspace
Find out more about the Health Foundry workspace for digital health start-ups and entrepreneurs.
Health Foundry Workspace
Health Foundry is a collaborative, community driven co-working space funded by Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation to support, connect and enable start-ups working to improve health and wellbeing.
If you and your team are looking for a base, or you're considering returning to the office, get in touch below about permanent desks in the Health Foundry workspace.
Member Feature: Strivy Health
Click through to read more about our member of the month, Strivy Health.
Each month, we highlight one of our amazing members doing amazing things in digital health and beyond. Our August member feature is written by and about one of our members, Strivy Health; the online clinic for kids.
Strivy Health was founded by Ishan Wijewardana, a former medical doctor, healthcare management consultant and start-up operator. Strivy connects parents to a paediatrician online (via chat, phone or video) or in-person at a local urgent care clinic.
What are Strivy Health doing?
Raising a family has become incredibly difficult for new parents with 80% stressed about access to healthcare. Worried parents who need support on their child’s health, commonly end up at their GP or in the Emergency department. Today, over 40% of primary care consultations are for children and young people and 55% of paediatric attendances at the emergency department are discharged without requiring any follow up.
Strivy Health connects parents to a paediatrician online to provide timely specialist input to worried parents who otherwise might attend the emergency department or GP in-person. We believe specialists are better able to resolve issues at home, with care and advice provided remotely.
Our primary goal is to improve parents’ healthcare experiences with reduced wait times but also improve health outcomes for children as specialists provide their input right from the start. We also want to build an integrated healthcare experience, helping families identify the right follow-on care with better connections to local paediatric services through the “front door”.
For health systems we are reducing the cost per patient with a digital appointment vs an in-person appointment at your GP or A&E. Early trials of this type of service by the NHS have shown to strengthen specialty care for children.
What is next for Strivy Health?
We are currently building our network of paediatricians across the country as well as hiring for our lead paediatrician in house (get in touch if you are interested in joining). We also plan to partner with local health systems to pilot the service in their area and conduct trials. We aim to launch our technology and gain the required regulation by September 22.
Regardless of your background, if you are interested in our vision for children’s healthcare, get in touch with us here.
Words: Strivy Health
If you’d like to connect with Ishan and find out more about Strivy Health, get in touch here.