We Are Here, an AgeTech Collaborative™ startup participant, is an AI-driven cancer navigation platform that offers patients and caregivers immediate access to navigation support and resources customized to each person’s unique needs in the wake of a diagnosis. The platform improves the patient and caregiver experience, closes gaps in health equity and improves outcomes.
We met with chief product officer Alex Grishaver, who discussed the need for a more modernized approach to supporting the entire cancer journey, and how We Are Here is closing the gap.
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
Please tell us about We Are Here.
Our mission is to connect people affected by cancer — including patients, survivors and caregivers — with non-medical, non-clinical resources that they can use to help get through life with cancer or life after cancer. We find best-in-class resources, curate them, then connect people with the resources that will be most valuable to them. That can be anything from transportation providers to people who can help them navigate their finances, and everything in between.
What was the catalyst for founding the company?
Each of the co-founders has been deeply impacted by cancer. My two teammates, Shea Mencel and Carolyn Jenkins, are both cancer survivors, and I was a caregiver for two close loved ones who had cancer. We all went through a certain level of trauma by going on this cancer journey. What we each discovered is that we might have known what kinds of support we needed, but we didn’t know how to find it — or, in some cases, we didn’t even know what resources were available to us that could have been helpful.
Typically, when someone receives a cancer diagnosis, the clinician will give them a big black binder that outlines in very generic terms some resources that are available. But it’s not tailored to their specific situation, and often people will flip through it, see a bunch of phone numbers to call, and think, “I don’t see how this fits with me right now.” The intentions are good, but it’s anachronistic compared to where our technical systems are right now.
You want to provide a more personalized touch than the big black binder.
It seems like a missed opportunity. For example, when I was a caregiver, what I needed was someone to ask me, “What do you want?” And also for them to give me some other ideas for things that could have helped me through this process. For example, a lot of people don't realize that you can preserve your hair during chemotherapy, but no one in the clinic tells them about that, because it doesn't seem clinically relevant.
You also have a kind of larger mission. Can you tell us about that?
We want to move the needle on health and medical equity. One of the things we’re trying to do is to get people connected to resources as quickly as possible. For example, people of color and lower-income people have a harder time getting rapid access both to medical care and to the second level of care they need for living life with a chronic disease — and that’s if they have any access through their medical provider in the first place. Typically, they may wait for weeks, but we can get them access more quickly.
You incorporate machine learning and artificial intelligence into your solution. How does that fit with the human component of We Are Here?
Our human navigators are very empathetic — and they have a lot of work to do curating the resources for each member, because they have to figure out which services are right for which person. Given the scope of what we do, that’s not sustainable.
So we have an artificial intelligence (AI) engine that looks at data from the member, then looks at the trove of resources that we have available. Through interactive training of the model, the AI becomes more accurate in figuring out what services are going to be uniquely right for each person.
But there’s still human intervention. The AI presents the navigator with a variety of different options, and the navigator can decide to present certain options but not others; or maybe they’ll present all the options, but only as they become relevant to the member over time, so the member doesn’t get overwhelmed.
What are the next steps for the company?
We’re doing a lot of infrastructure development, and we’re on the path toward becoming HIPAA compliant. We’re also building out a carefully considered interface for our navigators, because they do the bulk of the work, and it can be emotional work. So, for example, we’re working on having the interface serve up a daily testimonial from members about the difference the navigators have made in people’s lives, to keep them inspired and reminded that the work we do is having a positive impact.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
I want to extend an open invitation for people to reach out to us. If you’re a company with a service or product that could benefit this population, we would love to hear from you because that’s what we do: Get resources out there that are uniquely appropriate for the people in our audience. And if you’re in the pharmaceutical, insurance payer or medical provider sectors, we’d be excited to chat about how we might help your patients. You can reach us at info@wearehere.com.
Learn more about We Are Here at their website.
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