BioIQ
Creating an Amazon Experience for Healthcare

With a master’s degree in materials science and engineering, little did Justin Bellante expect that a chain of unexpected events would one day drive him to establish BioIQ and venture into the world of healthcare technology. In 2005, during the course of his PhD, Bellante was struck by how the lack of periodic health monitoring led to a friend and mentor’s massive stroke. Having witnessed this irreversible change in the health of an individual—which could have been avoided had an inexpensive diabetes test been taken—Bellante took a step back. It was around this time that Netflix was trouncing Blockbuster, and this gave him new ideas. “If people can’t take five minutes and walk into a Blockbuster to rent a movie, it is hardly surprising that they don’t go to doctors and spend hours to do something they don’t want to do in the first place—get poked by a needle,” comments Bellante, President and CEO, BioIQ. This realization marked the dawn of BioIQ. “We wanted to create a Netflix for healthcare. We wanted to create a way of getting a diagnostic test conveniently into someone’s home,” reveals Bellante.

While a Netflix-like approach to delivering the tests works for some, Bellante realized that a broader part of the population wanted to access a comprehensive range of health measurements and services. And so, “we evolved from a Netflix for healthcare to more of an Amazon for healthcare,” he adds. BioIQ has pioneered a versatile technology platform to optimize health and save lives. It provides a seamless way for people to connect to the latest technologies and navigate the complex healthcare processes. “We look at the healthcare industry through a different lens,” asserts Bellante. “Our charter is to enable organizations to connect with their populations, measure vital health metrics, and achieve their health improvement goals.”

The interoperability capabilities of BioIQ’s technology platform make connecting, measuring and achieving easier for everyone involved.

Inherently, BioIQ is focused on improving user experiences—something that has been lacking in the healthcare sector. “Wrapped around that user experience is real engineering rigor in how we handle data,” states Bellante. BioIQ collects and exchanges data that feeds analytics and helps individuals navigate best practices in a healthcare process. As people navigate processes, a significant amount of data is generated from different sources and BioIQ integrates this data, identifying risks and allowing physicians to easily follow-up with patients. The company’s close attention to customers is reflected by their move to extend the capabilities of their platform to mobile devices after noticing that a large number of users were accessing BioIQ’s tools via tablets and phones.

As healthcare processes have many moving pieces, BioIQ’s platform comes as a welcome tool that connects all those pieces and integrates them into user processes or experiences. The company helps health plans engage their members and adhere to best practices in screening, monitoring and educating on various diseases. One of their clients, Independent Care Health Plan (iCare), wanted to improve the rates of diabetes and cancer screening to help its members adhere to best practices for diagnostic testing. But iCare had problems engaging individuals and managing their back-end data. BioIQ helped iCare engage its members, get the health screening they needed, and collect the data that Medicare requires to demonstrate adherence to best practices. BioIQ automated all the engagements, testing and reporting. As a result, iCare improved its Star rating and receives an estimated ROI of over 4:1 in direct medical cost savings as they are identifying conditions sooner.

With the emphasis of data analytics and best practices quickly increasing in the biotechnology space, BioIQ is well in its comfort zone. BioIQ is one of the few companies that has a clear understanding of both the back-end technology and the front-end patient experience, ensuring that people can navigate the healthcare system in a friendly way.