The Story of AlayaCare

It’s hard to believe that five years have passed since the launch of AlayaCare. Yet in that half-decade, our company has grown from a small Canadian startup into a global home care disrupter – engaging more than 200 employees who are committed to helping people live a better quality of life in the comfort of their own homes.

To mark the five-year milestone, I wanted to return to our roots and recap who we are and why we’re here – our raison d’être, so to speak.

So here’s where the story begins: After founding two successful mobile software companies, we wanted to get involved in a space where we could have a really meaningful impact on one of the important challenges our society is facing – the ageing of the population in the context of limited healthcare resources.

By applying technology to address what was then a predominantly paper-based sector, we were confident that we could dramatically support home care agencies industry in becoming more efficient and optimizing the delivery of care – and ultimately put patients first.

And so, in 2014, AlayaCare was born with a mission rooted in my personal belief that innovation and technology can solve healthcare challenges. And we are: by combining virtual care tools with the supporting software for in-person home care, AlayaCare is leading the industry through a transition from fee-for-service to value-based care.

Many people ask: what is the meaning of the name, AlayaCare? Actually, “Alaya” in Sanskrit means house, or abode. So AlayaCare roughly translates into “Home Care.” Why Sanskrit? It’s a call to the time I spent volunteering in India and to my wife Gillian, who is a pediatrician with a long-standing passion for working with children in resource-poor settings here and abroad.

In fact, Gillian and I have a foundation that includes The Madiro Fund, which supports innovative solutions to the health problems of women and children through organizations such as Grand Challenges Canada. Our software is now being used to strengthen the relationship between primary care nurses and community health workers using technology-enabled home visits for pregnant women in some of the poorest regions of the world.

AlayaCare today

AlayaCare now provides home and community care agencies around the globe with an innovative, end-to-end software platform that’s constantly evolving to meet the needs of this rapidly changing industry.

Not only are we facilitating an industry-wide shift away from paper-based processes, but we’re  providing clients with data previously unavailable in this market. Our core value stems from our AI, remote monitoring, machine learning capabilities and optimization science investments, each of which help clients lower their operating costs while improving their ability to provide quality patient care, detect adverse events and help reduce hospital readmissions.

We’re already seeing how our contribution to patient outcomes can make a difference through the Ontario Centres of Excellence study, SmartCoach. Results showed that remote patient monitoring (RPM) facilitated by AlayaCare software improved the delivery of care and reduced health-care costs. For patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and heart failure, the use of RPM dropped emergency department visits by 73 per cent and admissions to hospital by 64 per cent. This three-month trial not only helped these people, but saved the system over $150,000

Where we’re going

Despite differences across markets, the AlayaCare team focuses on common, recurring priorities for agencies that include:

• Caregiver shortages
• Improved client experiences
• Increased efficiency in the revenue cycle
• Ability to run a data-driven business
• Better integration across the continuum of care
• Flexibility to handle multiple payment regimens

We believe the future of home care truly lies in a combination of in-home visits, virtual visits, and remote monitoring, with insights from data collected through those interactions driving an optimized delivery of care.

Overall, we want to be the best, most trusted provider when it comes to scheduling home care visits efficiently, providing caregivers with tools to deliver great care, empowering patients to manage their own care, and running an efficient back office. Every member of our team is committed to building the best product, because by helping transform an industry, we can support people who receive these much-needed services.

I can’t wait to see what the next five years has in store.