One of the UMass Venture Development Center’s venture companies just went out of stealth mode. The company, Anthurium Solutions, has developed technology that aims to unlock the potential of the “idle workforce,” enabling skilled professionals to work virtually from anywhere. The company’s initial product is a work execution and collaboration solution for diabetes, matching patients and nurses virtually based on their cultural affinities and interests.
Anthurium is at the intersection of healthcare and technology as much as it is targeting both ends of the employment spectrum: Millenials with their desire to work on their own time and terms and soon-to-retire boomers who will still need/want to work part time. I had the opportunity to speak with their founder and CEO, Tim Simard, last week about the opportunity, their platform and plans moving forward.
Simard, who has 25 years of experience in complex technologies and business strategy, started his career working on the NASA space shuttle. He was the youngest member of that team by 15 years and spent much of his career designing complex computer systems. Simard acquired a patent portfolio of 30 global patents and pending patents around intelligent workflow and matching technology, which are currently being integrated and used in Anthurium’s software.
The Opportunity
“The idea was to monetize that intellectual property,” Simard began explaining. He looked at megatrends like the aging population and tech drivers such as the desire to be always on, video and mobile – and then thought big. As in, how will people work in the future? He and his team at Anthurium Solutions honed in on the opportunity for discrete work and tasks being enabled and performed virtually, and started building the software.
“We’re building a platform for the 21st century knowledge worker,” Simard stated. The company is starting by targeting healthcare because of its global orientation as an industry ripe for realizing the benefits of technological innovation and where an aging population is creating new needs, challenges and opportunities.
“If you look at historical time periods in society, we have gone from agrarian, industrial, information, and are now moving into the knowledge economy. This means a change in the way people work,” Simard explained. We went on to discuss, for example, how young people want to work 50-60 hours a week but want to do so in three days and not five.And on the other side of generational coin you have 3 million nurses in the US, half of which are over age 50 and soon to retire, facing financial concerns and wanting to continue to work.
The Initial Product
Anthurium Solutions’ first platform is the result of 18-months worth of massive development and coding. The product facilitates consultations between nurses and patients around how to manage their diabetes better. And it doesn’t do this facilitation at random. Their smart technology actually matches nurse and patient around cultural and personal affinities. This means the education being passed over their platform is not just being dictated, it’s being made between people who have similarities and have formed a connection.
The company decided to target the diabetes market given its size: 25 million people manage and deal with the disease on a daily basis. It also targeted this market given how much education and can help in managing and mitigating effects of the disease. Anthurium’s platform allows healthcare professionals to cost effectively work with diabetes patients around wellness, prevention, and self-managed care. Hospitals retain knowledge (retired nurses) and providers have portal that is improving patient outcomes – making it a win-win for both parties.
As for the technology, they have developed a SaaS architecture and engine. The frontend interface is delivered through the web, mobile, and telephony — where the communication and work takes place.
“With healthcare reform, people will be paid for being healthy,” Simard explained. “The government wants providers to collaborate on patient outcomes.” Anthurium’s solution allows for just this, enabling providers (hospitals, pharmacists, doctors, payors) to collaborate and help patients change their behavior around a disease like diabetes.
Moving Forward
Anthurium is also working to use the technology it has developed over the last 18 months for medication therapy management. They are currently building this product in conjunction with the Minnesota College of Pharmacy. Anthurium was on the phone with a well-known potential customer before I met their team, and is now open to fundraising inquiries.
For-profit aside, part of Anthurium’s mission is to use their platform and technology to help mitigate healthcare disparities. You can think, for example, of clinicians in more developed countries being redeployed to less developed nations in a very cost efficient manner using their solutions.
“Our social mission is to give people access to meaningful work, and we want to create a company DNA where we give back,” Simard explained. “There are 50 million diabetics in India. Can we create a mobile health care unit to help? Just knowledge about what causes diabetes and how it can be managed will help significantly.”
Learn more about Anthurium Solutions by visiting their website.
