0-to-1 patient and caregiver platforms
Patients don't open a health app to read a record. They come to get something done. I design around that job and remove every step that stands between the patient and it.
- Where
- Susan G. Komen (2019 to 2023); CareTogether (2026 to present)
- My role
- VP, Health Technology; then co-founder and CPTO
- Built
- Patient care center web app; AI care platform for seniors
- Headline result
- Navigation 7x; 80% of scheduled check-ins completed
Outcomes
- Komen: patients supported grew 124% in two years; patient navigation grew 7x; financial assistance recipients grew 3x.
- Komen: 98% of patients who received assistance said they reached care faster.
- Komen: financial assistance applications completed within 7 days rose from under 50% to 95%, against a 90% target.
- CareTogether: paid users complete 80% of their scheduled AI check-in calls, and 85% are active every month.
Susan G. Komen: a patient care center built from zero
The problem
Komen relied on outside agencies for patient navigation and financial assistance. People who had just been diagnosed with breast cancer came with one urgent question, what does this mean for me, and then had to find their way through separate services for help.
What I built
I led Komen's engineering team in building a patient-facing web app and navigator console on Salesforce Health Cloud that brought the helpline, patient navigation, financial assistance, education, and clinical trial matching into one experience, supported by 30+ care navigators.
How we removed friction
- Answer the immediate question first. Plain-language education on the patient's diagnosis came before any forms.
- Never ask twice. Patients didn't re-enter information Komen already had.
- Offer the next step as an easy on-ramp. After the first answer, the platform offered a navigator, financial help, or a clinical trial, based on the patient's situation.
What the data changed
We assumed patients would complete financial assistance applications in the portal. We set a target of 90% completed within 7 days and tracked it. Applications stalled: fewer than half finished in 7 days. The problem wasn't motivation; it was the channel. Some patients responded to email, others to text, and older patients wanted a phone call. We moved to outreach in each patient's preferred channel, kept the portal for those who wanted it, and reached 95%.
CareTogether: an AI-native platform for seniors and families
The problem
Families and care teams know little about how a senior is doing between visits, and most seniors won't learn a new app.
What I built
As co-founder, I built the product hands-on, from discovery with families, home care agencies, and clinicians to production. CareTogether is sold direct to consumers and through agencies.
- Onboarding as a conversation. Chat-style setup instead of long forms, with the option to skip what someone doesn't know yet.
- No passwords to remember. Sign-in uses a one-time code sent by text.
- The phone call is the product. Seniors answer an AI check-in in their own words; there's no app to learn.
- Caregivers are first-class users. Family members join a care circle with their own consented access, so nobody shares a login.
- Proof with real customers. Pilots run alongside home care agencies' existing processes surfaced warning signs their teams had missed.
Principles I bring to any patient-facing product
- Build around the jobs patients come to do, not around the record.
- Reach each person through the channel they'll actually use: app, web, text, email, or phone.
- Design for caregivers, who often do the work.
- Measure behavior that matters, such as completion and return use, not downloads.
References
- Komen personalizes patient care with Health Cloud (Salesforce customer story on the patient care center platform)
- How Susan G. Komen uses technology at the intersection of nonprofits and healthcare (November 2020)