Crain’s Detroit featured Wellopp in a wide-ranging story about social determinants of health (SDOH) and how the company is using its unique platform to help people solve problems that create barriers to getting and staying healthy.
The story, published in Crain’s Sept. 22, 2019 issue, profiles Wellopp and the app-based system that helps people tackle the barriers that might prevent them from better health. It notes part of Wellopp’s success is because “sometimes people will tell an app things they won’t tell a doctor.”
Social determinants of health are factors that may impede an individual’s ability to stick with a care plan, adhere to a medication regimen, or otherwise create barriers to being healthier. A Kaiser Permanente study on SDOH, released June 4, 2019, found that 68% of Americans surveyed had at least one unmet social need in the past year – a lack of stable housing or food sources, lack of transportation, or other factors that could lead to worsening health or barriers to recovery.
The article quotes Wellopp CEO Tom Lauzon, who noted the growing number of hospitals and physician groups that have been using Wellopp’s software.
“It is all about reducing health care costs and being a good community partner, helping our most vulnerable population,” Lauzon said in the article. “Once we identify their needs, we can connect them with local social service organizations, food banks, transportation services, or other community resources that can help them.”