WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:07.039 --> 00:00:09.917 Candace Dellacona: Welcome to the Sandwich Generation Survival Guide. 00:00:09.927 --> 00:00:15.947 I am your host, Candace Dellacona, and I am super excited to welcome today Neal 00:00:15.967 --> 00:00:19.587 Shah and Sydney Rosbury from CareYaya. 00:00:19.857 --> 00:00:20.617 Welcome guys. 00:00:21.657 --> 00:00:22.297 Neal Shah: Thanks, Candace. 00:00:22.777 --> 00:00:24.197 Sydney Rosbury: Yeah, thank you for having us. 00:00:24.347 --> 00:00:26.987 Candace Dellacona: Oh gosh, I am beyond excited to have you. 00:00:26.987 --> 00:00:31.957 So just to give everyone a little bit of background Sydney, one of our guests 00:00:32.207 --> 00:00:34.607 reached out to me recently on LinkedIn. 00:00:34.877 --> 00:00:40.197 Because of my background in doing estate planning and elder law and saw 00:00:40.217 --> 00:00:44.597 the Sandwich Generation Survival Guide podcast and thought that I should 00:00:44.597 --> 00:00:48.917 know about an entity called CareYaya. 00:00:49.017 --> 00:00:53.297 And, candidly, I hadn't heard of it before and Sydney and I had the 00:00:53.297 --> 00:00:59.427 most amazing discussion about this alternative to traditional home care. 00:00:59.787 --> 00:01:04.447 And I am really excited to share with our listeners, guys, all about 00:01:04.447 --> 00:01:09.977 CareYaya, what it is, and how it's this really incredible, remarkable social 00:01:09.977 --> 00:01:15.227 experiment which is mission driven, that I love so much, created by Neal. 00:01:15.247 --> 00:01:18.507 So I'm going to let you guys go ahead and introduce yourselves and 00:01:18.517 --> 00:01:19.697 tell us a little bit about you. 00:01:19.697 --> 00:01:23.837 So Neal, why don't you tell us a little bit about you, and how we got 00:01:23.837 --> 00:01:25.047 here, and then we'll go to Sydney. 00:01:25.877 --> 00:01:26.267 Neal Shah: Sure. 00:01:26.327 --> 00:01:26.517 Yeah. 00:01:26.517 --> 00:01:27.707 Thanks, Candace, for the opportunity. 00:01:27.927 --> 00:01:29.227 A quick background on myself. 00:01:29.417 --> 00:01:32.527 I grew up in North Carolina, which is where we started CareYaya but I 00:01:32.527 --> 00:01:35.317 actually spent most of my twenties and thirties living in New York City. 00:01:35.857 --> 00:01:37.517 I have a non traditional background for caregiving. 00:01:37.537 --> 00:01:38.937 I actually was in finance. 00:01:39.107 --> 00:01:41.785 I started my career doing investment banking in my early twenties. 00:01:41.814 --> 00:01:44.604 By my mid twenties, I went into the hedge fund industry. 00:01:44.919 --> 00:01:47.699 And, I was good at the work and generating very high returns. 00:01:47.799 --> 00:01:50.809 So I became a partner at a multi billion dollar hedge fund when I was 27. 00:01:51.139 --> 00:01:54.379 And actually drove really high returns on investments across 00:01:54.379 --> 00:01:55.659 healthcare and technology. 00:01:55.919 --> 00:01:59.459 And by my early thirties, one of those investors backed me to start my own fund. 00:01:59.899 --> 00:02:01.349 So I started that with 10 million. 00:02:01.369 --> 00:02:04.449 And by the time I was 35, I got it up to 250 million. 00:02:04.449 --> 00:02:07.109 And I was managing money for university endowments, charitable 00:02:07.109 --> 00:02:08.599 foundations, pension funds, et cetera. 00:02:08.599 --> 00:02:10.269 So it was really rewarding experience. 00:02:10.269 --> 00:02:10.939 And I was good at it. 00:02:10.939 --> 00:02:12.389 And I used to work really hard at it. 00:02:12.784 --> 00:02:16.224 And then kind of out of left field, I became a caregiver and starting 00:02:16.224 --> 00:02:21.124 my early thirties, a secondary for my grandfather through dementia and 00:02:21.134 --> 00:02:23.584 kidney failure and end of life care. 00:02:23.614 --> 00:02:26.554 And really I saw, I was the person in that family helping a lot of the 00:02:26.554 --> 00:02:30.944 care navigation side because I'm the researchy person and but my mother, bore 00:02:30.944 --> 00:02:34.594 the brunt of the direct care and it was my first eyeopening experience in how 00:02:34.594 --> 00:02:37.524 broken the care industry is, just how difficult it is to get care help the 00:02:37.524 --> 00:02:40.974 reliability the quality of the care, kind of the industry structure where 00:02:40.974 --> 00:02:44.114 the caregivers aren't getting paid much as a result, they're often burned out. 00:02:44.349 --> 00:02:47.799 I became like somewhat obsessed with the care industry through that experience. 00:02:47.829 --> 00:02:51.339 And after he passed, I was looking into, okay, how can I invest in this 00:02:51.359 --> 00:02:54.079 industry through my fund and back people who are doing good things in 00:02:54.079 --> 00:02:55.339 it, but it was really hard to find. 00:02:55.559 --> 00:02:58.939 And then unexpectedly at the peak of my fund career at 35, my wife 00:02:58.939 --> 00:03:02.189 became severely ill and went through years of a difficult cancer battle. 00:03:02.359 --> 00:03:05.679 And I was the primary caregiver because we were living in New York City and, 00:03:05.709 --> 00:03:08.004 our family, her family's from Michigan, my family's from North Carolina. 00:03:08.224 --> 00:03:09.454 It was we were dealing with on our own. 00:03:09.769 --> 00:03:12.769 And, I kept taking sabbaticals for my work to manage her care. 00:03:12.899 --> 00:03:15.529 And, at that point, it was a firsthand experience where when you can't 00:03:15.529 --> 00:03:18.779 get good care help and you can't get respite you feel guilty and you 00:03:18.779 --> 00:03:19.919 end up doing a lot of it yourself. 00:03:20.139 --> 00:03:22.819 And, I over time realized that might influence the outcome. 00:03:23.009 --> 00:03:26.659 So after several sabbaticals, I made a difficult decision to wind down my fund, 00:03:26.659 --> 00:03:29.669 which was like a very heartbreaking and painful experience when you've dedicated 00:03:29.669 --> 00:03:32.864 almost 15 years of your career to doing something and you've gotten to near 00:03:32.864 --> 00:03:35.024 the top of the field to just walk away. 00:03:35.064 --> 00:03:37.154 But I thought it would make a big impact on the outcome. 00:03:37.294 --> 00:03:39.524 So became her full time caregiver for a couple of years. 00:03:39.764 --> 00:03:42.484 Pleased to say, knock on wood, she finally had a successful outcome and has 00:03:42.484 --> 00:03:43.844 now been in remission for a few years. 00:03:44.244 --> 00:03:46.574 So it's been a positive journey from that perspective. 00:03:46.574 --> 00:03:48.724 And then we actually, even more positive, we actually had our first 00:03:48.724 --> 00:03:49.834 child after the whole experience. 00:03:49.834 --> 00:03:52.634 So we have a happy and healthy four year old baby daughter. 00:03:52.804 --> 00:03:53.854 So that's been really cool. 00:03:54.014 --> 00:03:56.974 And then as as part of that journey, I, relocated back home to North 00:03:56.974 --> 00:03:58.364 Carolina just to be near family. 00:03:58.614 --> 00:04:01.734 And once my wife recovered I started CareYaya. 00:04:01.754 --> 00:04:04.384 I was like, I've experienced the problem now secondhand. 00:04:04.384 --> 00:04:05.484 I've experienced it firsthand. 00:04:05.484 --> 00:04:06.974 I've looked at it from an investment standpoint. 00:04:07.254 --> 00:04:10.789 This is a half a trillion to a trillion dollar industry, depending on how 00:04:10.819 --> 00:04:14.809 big you count as like caregiving for someone with serious illness, or that's 00:04:14.809 --> 00:04:18.009 aging, or if you count just home based care, but the industry is growing, 00:04:18.019 --> 00:04:20.279 it's going to double in the next 10 years with our aging population. 00:04:20.699 --> 00:04:24.199 It's I can't believe there aren't good quality, reliable solutions. 00:04:24.219 --> 00:04:25.539 There's a huge workforce shortage. 00:04:25.539 --> 00:04:26.729 There's minimal technology. 00:04:26.869 --> 00:04:28.929 The industry operates in like the 1980s, 1990s. 00:04:29.239 --> 00:04:32.409 So I thought there was a huge opportunity for innovation and social impact. 00:04:32.419 --> 00:04:32.859 And I was like. 00:04:33.204 --> 00:04:33.494 Okay. 00:04:33.494 --> 00:04:36.894 I'm a smart person, but I finally now in the middle of my life found something 00:04:36.904 --> 00:04:38.144 that gives me meaning and purpose. 00:04:38.374 --> 00:04:42.064 And I've talked to so many family caregivers for just burning at both ends, 00:04:42.064 --> 00:04:45.554 trying to make things meet and that was the genesis of starting CareYaya so 00:04:46.004 --> 00:04:48.914 Candace Dellacona: You've said so much, Neal, and I think while you were 00:04:48.914 --> 00:04:53.254 talking, what I was thinking about is that, that old adage where necessity 00:04:53.254 --> 00:04:54.904 is the mother of invention, right? 00:04:54.974 --> 00:05:01.594 And you combine those things with, as you point out a passion and a talent, right? 00:05:01.594 --> 00:05:06.304 Here you are a person who is really in the finance world and entrenched in that 00:05:06.304 --> 00:05:12.919 world, but none of us are immune to the human condition and caring for our loved 00:05:12.919 --> 00:05:16.719 ones and that's the genesis of CareYaya. 00:05:17.049 --> 00:05:21.109 And, I think that's a perfect segue to talk about who Sydney is and what her 00:05:21.109 --> 00:05:24.199 role is with CareYaya as a student. 00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:30.279 Sydney, you are a brilliant University of Michigan student in the healthcare field 00:05:30.469 --> 00:05:33.009 looking to establish yourself one day. 00:05:33.314 --> 00:05:39.714 So obviously a very intelligent young woman and tell us how you came to CareYaya 00:05:39.724 --> 00:05:41.494 and what your role is with CareYaya. 00:05:42.544 --> 00:05:43.614 Sydney Rosbury: Yeah, thank you, Candace. 00:05:43.864 --> 00:05:47.254 So I am currently a senior at the University of Michigan. 00:05:47.594 --> 00:05:51.514 Last year, particularly around the summertime, I was looking for a summer 00:05:51.514 --> 00:05:56.404 job, and I had known that I wanted to do something caregiving related, but 00:05:56.404 --> 00:05:59.814 I wasn't really sure which population of people I wanted to work with. 00:06:00.194 --> 00:06:03.864 Previously, I had mostly worked with neurodiverse children, and I had 00:06:03.864 --> 00:06:08.204 a lot of fun doing that, but I was hoping to expand my age range that 00:06:08.204 --> 00:06:11.834 I've worked with, and there was no better opportunity than CareYaya, 00:06:12.014 --> 00:06:16.244 which I actually found out about through my neuroscience major advisor. 00:06:16.244 --> 00:06:19.654 He sent an email, trying to recruit students in the 00:06:19.654 --> 00:06:21.254 health related fields to join. 00:06:21.559 --> 00:06:26.689 So I joined there, and all summer long I got experience with different 00:06:26.849 --> 00:06:28.279 elderly people in the community. 00:06:28.449 --> 00:06:30.959 Some of them were couples, some of them were like retired 00:06:30.959 --> 00:06:35.449 professors, retired just all kinds of professions, and it was really, 00:06:35.679 --> 00:06:37.469 really interesting to work with them. 00:06:37.699 --> 00:06:40.579 And I myself do have octogenarian grandparents. 00:06:40.909 --> 00:06:44.899 So I, not to say I didn't have some experience caregiving for the elderly. 00:06:45.184 --> 00:06:48.544 But it's really, it's been a really cool and fulfilling experience to see 00:06:48.844 --> 00:06:53.134 all of these people from different walks of life and how they have very 00:06:53.134 --> 00:06:57.244 different perspectives on the world which is a really, I wasn't expecting 00:06:57.244 --> 00:07:00.724 that at all the diversity that they have and how they see the world and 00:07:00.724 --> 00:07:02.404 how they think the world should run. 00:07:02.454 --> 00:07:06.754 Candace Dellacona: I think what's really important to point out is that what 00:07:06.784 --> 00:07:10.224 Neal has created is really a connection. 00:07:10.224 --> 00:07:14.444 So for our listeners, CareYaya isn't a home care agency. 00:07:15.084 --> 00:07:21.729 It's a really revolutionary Organization, if you will, that connects college 00:07:21.729 --> 00:07:27.449 students, like Sydney with for me as someone who is advising families every 00:07:27.449 --> 00:07:32.209 day on long term care and being able to, what we call age in place, with 00:07:32.209 --> 00:07:37.694 your own surroundings in your own home, something like this is truly 00:07:37.694 --> 00:07:39.854 remarkable and unique in the marketplace. 00:07:39.914 --> 00:07:43.744 Neal, tell us how you came up with the moniker CareYaya. 00:07:44.124 --> 00:07:44.524 Neal Shah: Sure. 00:07:44.554 --> 00:07:47.734 And also thanks Candace for explaining what CareYaya is because I totally 00:07:47.744 --> 00:07:51.014 realized I forgot to explain it, but yeah a couple of things I think, came 00:07:51.014 --> 00:07:54.784 up with the name because we wanted something positive, and just like 00:07:54.974 --> 00:07:58.874 playful and fun and techie, because we realized a lot of the care industry has 00:07:58.874 --> 00:08:02.000 names that allude to the later stages of life or potentially death, and we're 00:08:02.000 --> 00:08:05.960 like, okay, we want to make aging and just caregiving more fun as it can be. 00:08:06.010 --> 00:08:07.690 So it was just the word, Ya, twice. 00:08:07.950 --> 00:08:10.400 But it also Yaya, means grandmother in Greek. 00:08:10.600 --> 00:08:14.610 Yaya, also means caregiver in Hindi and Swahili and Thai. 00:08:14.740 --> 00:08:15.890 So it has like this double meaning. 00:08:16.130 --> 00:08:19.990 And then we thought y-a-y-a is a great acronym for you are your advocate. 00:08:20.295 --> 00:08:22.315 Which would be like the future of self directed care. 00:08:22.625 --> 00:08:25.665 We thought that the care industry just has several break points where there's 00:08:25.675 --> 00:08:29.365 multiple opportunities for innovation where booking care is very inconvenient. 00:08:29.535 --> 00:08:32.225 A lot of the local care agencies don't have price transparency. 00:08:32.225 --> 00:08:33.745 You have to call and get quotes. 00:08:33.745 --> 00:08:36.235 You have to have somebody do a home visit and sign contracts. 00:08:36.485 --> 00:08:39.125 It hasn't really caught up to 2025, that we're in now. 00:08:39.365 --> 00:08:42.515 Meanwhile, you look at things like food delivery, like DoorDash or 00:08:42.525 --> 00:08:45.625 getting a ride, like Uber, it's so convenient and streamlined. 00:08:45.815 --> 00:08:49.335 So in our case, the innovation is really multifold of could we deliver 00:08:49.335 --> 00:08:52.175 a online booking experience that you can spend less than two minutes to go 00:08:52.175 --> 00:08:55.215 online, fill out a few basic things about yourself and your loved one. 00:08:55.510 --> 00:08:57.920 And schedule and book caregivers right away. 00:08:58.120 --> 00:09:01.020 Then could we do something that's much better than care.com 00:09:01.040 --> 00:09:04.330 or other online players where all the vetting and background checking and 00:09:04.520 --> 00:09:07.650 interviewing of the caregivers is done for you and you just simply put the days 00:09:07.650 --> 00:09:11.310 and times you need and you're like given someone and then could we do something 00:09:11.310 --> 00:09:15.850 where the caregivers are all off a niche population that is much better than what 00:09:15.850 --> 00:09:17.280 I think is in a traditional care industry. 00:09:17.500 --> 00:09:20.900 Which are wonderful college students across America who are not only 00:09:20.910 --> 00:09:23.780 in top universities, but who are aspiring to future clinical 00:09:23.780 --> 00:09:25.060 careers and graduate programs. 00:09:25.340 --> 00:09:27.570 So they have a really vested interest in doing a good job. 00:09:27.570 --> 00:09:32.440 So think about pre meds, nursing, pre physician assistant, pre physical therapy. 00:09:32.440 --> 00:09:35.310 These are students that, yes, they can get paid through the program, but 00:09:35.310 --> 00:09:36.590 they're not just doing it for the money. 00:09:36.590 --> 00:09:39.440 They're doing it for the career experience and like career development. 00:09:39.865 --> 00:09:43.265 And then the final thing is we do it for no fees, so we absorb all the costs 00:09:43.265 --> 00:09:45.645 on the technology and the bookings, which has been like an interesting 00:09:45.655 --> 00:09:48.295 innovation, initially it was just bootstrapping and funding it, but over 00:09:48.295 --> 00:09:51.695 time we've had social impact funders, but, pleased to say that when a family 00:09:51.705 --> 00:09:54.655 books care through CareYaya and on average they're paying 20 bucks an hour. 00:09:55.360 --> 00:09:57.020 The full 20 goes to the student. 00:09:57.040 --> 00:09:58.770 We're not even in the middle of the transaction. 00:09:58.780 --> 00:10:03.460 So it's unbelievably streamlined for students earning good income and 00:10:03.460 --> 00:10:07.460 families paying what in most markets is 30 to 40 percent lower than prevailing 00:10:07.460 --> 00:10:10.140 home care rates, which is awesome because a lot of people can't afford 00:10:10.410 --> 00:10:11.740 industry that does a lot of markups. 00:10:11.820 --> 00:10:14.040 So yeah, there's multiple kinds of innovations, 00:10:14.110 --> 00:10:17.140 Candace Dellacona: And to that point, Neal, and for our listeners, I think 00:10:17.140 --> 00:10:22.980 what's really important to note is that as people age and particularly 00:10:22.980 --> 00:10:27.460 they need help with what we call the activities of daily living, those 00:10:27.490 --> 00:10:31.460 activities are not skilled services. 00:10:31.470 --> 00:10:36.350 So traditional insurances don't cover assistance that one 00:10:36.350 --> 00:10:38.290 might need to stay independent. 00:10:38.580 --> 00:10:41.550 Whether it's, bringing food or help preparing food or that 00:10:41.550 --> 00:10:45.290 companionship that can sometimes be missing from a senior's life. 00:10:45.640 --> 00:10:49.850 And because of that, families, as you point out, Neal, are spending a huge 00:10:49.850 --> 00:10:54.800 amount of money paying privately because traditional insurances do not cover this 00:10:54.830 --> 00:10:58.170 type of care, which is companionship care. 00:10:58.920 --> 00:11:03.170 And enter in someone like Sydney, who, I may be a little biased having gotten 00:11:03.180 --> 00:11:06.910 to know her a little bit, but as you point out, Neal, you have these brilliant 00:11:06.980 --> 00:11:12.340 college students who have a zest for life, and they're coming in, and you're 00:11:12.670 --> 00:11:16.800 making this connection across generations, which is really so remarkable and kind of 00:11:17.170 --> 00:11:20.965 beautiful experience for both generations. 00:11:21.145 --> 00:11:23.325 Sydney already has a fondness for her grandparents. 00:11:23.325 --> 00:11:24.955 So why not expand that? 00:11:25.335 --> 00:11:30.025 So Sydney, from your perspective what do you see, can you, without obviously 00:11:30.025 --> 00:11:35.405 revealing any any information about your particular assignments, but share with 00:11:35.405 --> 00:11:42.745 us a great example of what you might do with one of your seniors on a daily basis. 00:11:43.775 --> 00:11:46.725 Sydney Rosbury: Yeah, so there's actually, there's a decent amount of freedom. 00:11:46.885 --> 00:11:49.875 You can balance the things that need to get done, and then also the things 00:11:49.875 --> 00:11:53.775 that they want to do that bring them joy within their activities of daily living. 00:11:54.035 --> 00:11:56.885 For example, if someone were to be, visually impaired or hearing 00:11:56.885 --> 00:12:02.105 impaired, I can help be that extra set of ears, extra set of eyes, to help 00:12:02.105 --> 00:12:04.735 them navigate tasks around the house. 00:12:04.775 --> 00:12:08.945 Sometimes it's as simple as putting socks and shoes on, helping guide them to the 00:12:08.945 --> 00:12:12.975 bathroom to brush their teeth and do their personal hygiene things in the morning. 00:12:13.195 --> 00:12:17.705 But I can also help with meal prep, light cleaning, taking out the trash. 00:12:17.965 --> 00:12:23.105 In Michigan, in particular, in the winter, I do not want any of my clients going 00:12:23.105 --> 00:12:26.745 outside in the ice, so I'm always like, I will take your trash out, I will do 00:12:26.935 --> 00:12:28.715 anything that needs to be done outside. 00:12:29.065 --> 00:12:32.585 I'll salt your porch, anything like that, just to make sure that they're 00:12:32.585 --> 00:12:36.605 living in a safe environment, and that they're able to do the things that 00:12:36.605 --> 00:12:41.395 they love, whether that's watching TV, reading, knitting, I have some 00:12:41.645 --> 00:12:44.775 clients who I've done woodworking with and doing those activities that 00:12:44.775 --> 00:12:48.765 they really like with them and they enjoy teaching a younger person too. 00:12:49.365 --> 00:12:52.015 Candace Dellacona: As somebody who is getting older and being a member of 00:12:52.015 --> 00:12:58.105 the sandwich generation, Neal, we're always in search of finding the way 00:12:58.115 --> 00:13:02.905 to make sure that we age with grace and our loved ones age with grace, 00:13:03.205 --> 00:13:08.965 with dignity and not to disparage institutions and long term care facilities 00:13:08.985 --> 00:13:12.795 because certainly there are examples where they are absolutely necessary. 00:13:13.685 --> 00:13:18.285 You point out as somebody who studied the market, if you will, finding this 00:13:18.315 --> 00:13:23.545 dearth this real sort of vast emptiness where there weren't these options. 00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:29.290 Can you tell us maybe what the difference would be between hiring, 00:13:29.300 --> 00:13:34.830 let's say, a home care attendant versus a student and why it almost can be 00:13:34.830 --> 00:13:37.590 the same thing and, inform everybody? 00:13:38.200 --> 00:13:38.810 Neal Shah: Yeah, sure. 00:13:38.840 --> 00:13:39.980 And great question, Candace. 00:13:39.980 --> 00:13:42.760 I think that there's like a spectrum of care needs, and I think, people 00:13:42.760 --> 00:13:45.530 have to make the decision that's right for them, but I think that, 00:13:45.610 --> 00:13:48.000 so we did, we're backed by the AARP. 00:13:48.050 --> 00:13:50.420 We've received funding from the AARP Innovation Labs. 00:13:50.710 --> 00:13:54.370 And age tech collaborative from AARP and as a result of that, they brought 00:13:54.370 --> 00:13:56.920 us under their fold and given us a lot of access to their research. 00:13:56.950 --> 00:14:01.290 And one interesting research that they have internally is that cumulatively 00:14:01.330 --> 00:14:06.760 of the amount of hours cared for people above 65, 61% is people 00:14:06.760 --> 00:14:08.210 with companion level care needs. 00:14:08.280 --> 00:14:12.253 So 39% have a higher acuity, clinical or subclinical needs and those we cannot 00:14:12.253 --> 00:14:13.503 address with college students, right? 00:14:13.503 --> 00:14:18.013 But 61 percent is a large portion of the 500 billion current home 00:14:18.013 --> 00:14:21.323 care market, and that is something that I think is ripe for innovation 00:14:21.323 --> 00:14:22.653 because the costs are just too high. 00:14:22.833 --> 00:14:26.943 So for those people, CareYaya can serve as a wonderful alternative because in the 00:14:26.943 --> 00:14:30.223 traditional home care industry currently the cost of care, let's just say if 00:14:30.223 --> 00:14:34.083 you're booking, traditional, 40 hours a week because the sandwich generation 00:14:34.083 --> 00:14:36.513 son or daughter might be working and you want somebody around mom or dad. 00:14:36.893 --> 00:14:40.873 Current cost of home care right now is pushing $65,000 per year for that. 00:14:40.873 --> 00:14:43.226 So if you think about it that's unaffordable for a vast majority 00:14:43.226 --> 00:14:45.466 of the middle class, even the upper middle class, right? 00:14:45.716 --> 00:14:49.106 Because most people don't have, 100k plus of pre tax income just to 00:14:49.106 --> 00:14:51.436 spend on that or tons of savings. 00:14:51.611 --> 00:14:56.241 So there we find CareYaya delivers a similar thing for half the price 00:14:56.520 --> 00:14:58.455 because all the money is going to the students and there's no fees or 00:14:58.455 --> 00:15:01.645 markups and even better the money circulating in the local economy. 00:15:01.695 --> 00:15:06.770 You are literally directly paying somebody's future med school tuition 00:15:06.800 --> 00:15:09.030 or, physician assistant school tuition. 00:15:09.030 --> 00:15:09.600 So it's cool. 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:14.220 You're almost getting care for yourself or your loved one while enabling somebody 00:15:14.260 --> 00:15:17.050 to be set up for a pathway towards becoming a future healthcare worker. 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:18.400 So I think that's pretty cool. 00:15:18.540 --> 00:15:21.120 I think for people who have more clinical care needs, I do think 00:15:21.120 --> 00:15:23.750 that a lot of the home care agencies are a good viable option. 00:15:23.950 --> 00:15:26.630 Because many of them have certified nurse aides and people that can do 00:15:26.630 --> 00:15:29.890 medication administration, insulin injections, things like that. 00:15:29.890 --> 00:15:32.030 Those are things that students can't do and shouldn't be doing. 00:15:32.260 --> 00:15:33.480 So I do think that makes sense. 00:15:33.770 --> 00:15:36.870 To your point about the institutional and the facility based care, I 00:15:36.880 --> 00:15:38.870 think there's a need for that in the market because many people don't 00:15:38.880 --> 00:15:40.070 have the luxury of aging at home. 00:15:40.280 --> 00:15:44.225 Unfortunately, no matter how good the facility is, so much research has come 00:15:44.225 --> 00:15:46.825 out, like near us, Duke University put out a research report about six 00:15:46.825 --> 00:15:50.595 months ago, and it was the statistics adjusted for every other factor. 00:15:50.875 --> 00:15:54.318 If you move an older person into any institutional care, life 00:15:54.318 --> 00:15:55.868 expectancy goes down by three years. 00:15:56.108 --> 00:15:59.488 And that's adjusted for like race, income level, you name it, right? 00:15:59.498 --> 00:16:00.348 Gender or anything. 00:16:01.208 --> 00:16:04.828 It's just that's a reality, that people really thrive on their 00:16:04.828 --> 00:16:07.448 independence and, living, in their home. 00:16:07.468 --> 00:16:11.328 And of course, as they lose some abilities they would like to get help in the 00:16:11.328 --> 00:16:12.618 home rather than move out somewhere. 00:16:12.618 --> 00:16:15.578 And when you move them out somewhere into an unfamiliar setting, no 00:16:15.578 --> 00:16:18.188 matter how good the care is, just like life expectancy declines. 00:16:18.438 --> 00:16:21.168 So I think that we're going to have this interesting thing in America where. 00:16:21.593 --> 00:16:26.083 The cumulative care market is now 1 trillion, which is about 500 billion 00:16:26.093 --> 00:16:27.953 in home, 500 billion in facilities. 00:16:28.703 --> 00:16:31.723 It's expected to more than double with the aging population. 00:16:31.723 --> 00:16:35.573 So by 2035, it'll be 2 trillion, but I think market share shift is 00:16:35.573 --> 00:16:39.403 going to be significant that I think the home care part is going to more 00:16:39.403 --> 00:16:42.353 than double because facility based care is becoming out of favor. 00:16:42.353 --> 00:16:46.423 And my kind of final point on that is that today's baby boomers, they were the 00:16:46.423 --> 00:16:50.543 generation that their parents, they saw moving into these facilities, cause if 00:16:50.543 --> 00:16:53.063 you think about assisted living facility as a concept, it's like a very 1980s, 00:16:53.063 --> 00:16:56.353 1990s type of innovation where these facilities spread all over the country. 00:16:56.618 --> 00:16:57.578 During that time period. 00:16:57.738 --> 00:16:59.518 So the boomers had their parents go through it. 00:16:59.748 --> 00:17:03.358 And then they realized like, Hey, this isn't a great place I want to go to. 00:17:03.358 --> 00:17:06.948 And then I think COVID kind of destroyed, whatever remaining shred of reputation 00:17:06.948 --> 00:17:10.398 there was because the, just some of the outcomes at these nursing homes and 00:17:10.438 --> 00:17:11.698 assisted living facilities are horrible. 00:17:11.888 --> 00:17:15.658 So I think now there's a fear in many of today's 75 and 80 year olds that 00:17:15.858 --> 00:17:17.818 do not put me there at all costs. 00:17:17.818 --> 00:17:18.738 Like I'd rather die at home. 00:17:18.998 --> 00:17:20.878 And then the final thing is a lot of these places that are dealing with 00:17:21.048 --> 00:17:22.318 unbelievable staffing shortages. 00:17:22.368 --> 00:17:26.118 I think for a variety of reasons, like the workers have burned out during COVID. 00:17:26.358 --> 00:17:28.188 I think they can get better opportunities elsewhere. 00:17:28.188 --> 00:17:30.198 There's been regulatory pressure from government. 00:17:30.428 --> 00:17:33.738 So like in our area in Raleigh, Durham, we often hear from people where, 00:17:33.968 --> 00:17:37.768 okay, mom fell and broke her hip or is recuperating at a skilled nursing home. 00:17:37.968 --> 00:17:40.338 And I literally, I hear horror stories where it's like the 00:17:40.338 --> 00:17:42.248 staffing is like 25 to one. 00:17:42.523 --> 00:17:46.163 And it's just like somebody hits the button to get a glass of water and 00:17:46.163 --> 00:17:47.963 it takes them 40 minutes to respond. 00:17:47.973 --> 00:17:50.703 So believe it or not, people are using CareYaya in the facility. 00:17:50.753 --> 00:17:54.383 Completely never would have imagined that, but a son or daughter 00:17:54.383 --> 00:17:56.073 will say my mom's in this place. 00:17:56.223 --> 00:17:59.898 We're paying eight grand a month and there's no one paying attention. 00:18:00.128 --> 00:18:03.698 So I'm going to book students a few hours a day to be one on one, 00:18:03.838 --> 00:18:07.208 and same, whether it's skilled nursing, assisted living, et cetera. 00:18:07.318 --> 00:18:08.368 So I think it's crazy. 00:18:08.368 --> 00:18:10.918 The staffing shortages is impacting people's 00:18:10.923 --> 00:18:11.203 Candace Dellacona: Great. 00:18:11.243 --> 00:18:13.493 And, you just did so much, Neal, to unpack, right? 00:18:13.493 --> 00:18:17.923 So I want to point out to our listeners that all of the statistics and the 00:18:17.923 --> 00:18:20.413 research that Neal just referenced. 00:18:21.148 --> 00:18:25.938 There's something coming called a gray tsunami, which is our population 00:18:25.948 --> 00:18:31.178 is aging and staying alive much longer than our prior generation. 00:18:31.188 --> 00:18:36.178 So we have a huge part of the population that is going to need this level of care. 00:18:36.498 --> 00:18:40.358 And to Neal's point, I think it's important to note that we 00:18:40.358 --> 00:18:44.338 want choices as we get older and right now there are less choices. 00:18:44.338 --> 00:18:49.623 So what you found in CareYaya was providing an option for people to 00:18:49.623 --> 00:18:51.993 make sure that they can age in place. 00:18:52.033 --> 00:18:55.053 And, for our listeners out there, this is not just Neal's opinion. 00:18:55.063 --> 00:18:57.833 He is very humble as is Sydney. 00:18:57.833 --> 00:19:03.643 They are backed by Johns Hopkins and Harvard and, really legitimate and 00:19:03.753 --> 00:19:08.413 cutting edge organizations, including the AARP that advocates for aging in place. 00:19:08.868 --> 00:19:15.735 Because the level of lifestyle and care you get one on one clearly is better than 00:19:15.755 --> 00:19:17.925 any institution could hope to provide. 00:19:17.945 --> 00:19:21.655 And, Neal, I want to say also that we're in the New York area, and 00:19:21.655 --> 00:19:25.065 so you talk about 8, 000 a month, that is probably a third of what 00:19:25.065 --> 00:19:26.465 it costs here in New York City. 00:19:26.820 --> 00:19:27.460 Neal Shah: Wow. 00:19:27.605 --> 00:19:30.125 Candace Dellacona: So I think that is something worth noting. 00:19:30.455 --> 00:19:33.935 So what I'd like to know is, and I'm sure a lot of families would want 00:19:33.935 --> 00:19:39.340 to know, When a student gets started to sign up with CareYaya, what sort 00:19:39.340 --> 00:19:43.800 of training or information are they provided about being a caregiver? 00:19:44.100 --> 00:19:46.000 Can you share a little bit about that process? 00:19:46.380 --> 00:19:46.870 Neal Shah: Yeah, sure. 00:19:46.890 --> 00:19:47.420 Great question. 00:19:47.420 --> 00:19:49.880 And that's been something we've continued to add to our offering. 00:19:50.050 --> 00:19:53.810 So initially, when we started, we had collaborations with UCLA Public Health. 00:19:53.850 --> 00:19:57.100 So we were offering their Alzheimer's and dementia training videos, just cause 00:19:57.100 --> 00:20:01.010 online YouTube based videos and curriculum that students could do self directed. 00:20:01.300 --> 00:20:06.350 We were also finding many of the students themselves had come in with a CNA or an 00:20:06.360 --> 00:20:10.110 EMT licensure, and Sydney can talk about that as well, where, they've done that 00:20:10.120 --> 00:20:12.710 on their own, or they volunteer at a hospital, or they've worked at a hospital 00:20:12.820 --> 00:20:16.660 those students were already equipped, and then we approached the National Institute 00:20:16.660 --> 00:20:19.570 on Aging, because they had heard about our program, and Johns Hopkins had heard 00:20:19.570 --> 00:20:22.390 about the program, and there was this collaboration between them, where they 00:20:22.390 --> 00:20:23.850 wanted to increase workforce development. 00:20:24.040 --> 00:20:27.280 So, we went through this whole process with them where they gave us a grant 00:20:27.450 --> 00:20:30.250 to build what it's called the Yaya Guide, but it's basically what they 00:20:30.250 --> 00:20:33.610 call the duolingo of caregiving, which is kind of bite sized training 00:20:33.620 --> 00:20:35.560 modules to meet Gen Z where they're at. 00:20:35.740 --> 00:20:39.100 We've been working on that grant funded innovation which is the first AI 00:20:39.100 --> 00:20:40.540 powered dementia care training program. 00:20:40.790 --> 00:20:43.580 Right now, we're, like, been prototyping with students, and it'll be, broadly 00:20:43.580 --> 00:20:44.560 rolled out over the next few months. 00:20:44.830 --> 00:20:48.090 But it's been pretty cool where, there's an ability and an opportunity to upskill 00:20:48.090 --> 00:20:52.445 the students while they're doing it and to upskill them through bite sized modules 00:20:52.445 --> 00:20:56.395 where they don't want to necessarily all go through a hundred hours of coursework 00:20:56.675 --> 00:20:57.945 before they go out in the field. 00:20:58.065 --> 00:21:02.735 You can give them lower acuity companion level care and then say, watch these one 00:21:02.735 --> 00:21:04.255 minute, two minute, five minute videos. 00:21:04.415 --> 00:21:08.415 Where you get a tutorial from a geriatric physician at Johns Hopkins 00:21:08.415 --> 00:21:10.065 or a geriatrician at Duke, et cetera. 00:21:10.065 --> 00:21:10.955 And then you learn that way. 00:21:11.240 --> 00:21:12.180 So that's been pretty cool. 00:21:12.290 --> 00:21:14.150 Then the final thing is a lot of them learn from the families 00:21:14.150 --> 00:21:16.180 as well, so there's like real practical field experience. 00:21:16.410 --> 00:21:18.160 Candace Dellacona: I was just going to say too, and then I want to 00:21:18.160 --> 00:21:19.520 hear sort of Sydney's perspective. 00:21:19.520 --> 00:21:22.810 I think it's important to know, I think families have a false sense of security 00:21:22.990 --> 00:21:27.370 that when they go through an agency, if they hire a companion, there is not 00:21:27.380 --> 00:21:31.100 training beyond what you're talking about, and candidly, the resources 00:21:31.100 --> 00:21:34.680 that you're talking about are top of the top, and again, another shout out 00:21:34.710 --> 00:21:40.060 for your being very humble and earnest about how remarkable, CareYaya is in 00:21:40.060 --> 00:21:44.510 that regard, that it has been, received so many accolades from the National 00:21:44.510 --> 00:21:48.600 Institutes of Health and organizations like that, that see the need and recognize 00:21:48.600 --> 00:21:50.690 the This is a viable option everyone. 00:21:50.700 --> 00:21:54.240 So Sydney, talk about a little bit about maybe what your training 00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:55.200 is or what you've learned. 00:21:55.230 --> 00:21:58.680 And I would like to know if you do something different now, since 00:21:58.680 --> 00:22:03.490 you've been in CareYaya for a while, and if you are giving those tips to 00:22:03.520 --> 00:22:06.320 your peers who have joined CareYaya. 00:22:07.085 --> 00:22:08.235 Sydney Rosbury: Yeah, absolutely. 00:22:08.345 --> 00:22:12.305 So like Neal said, there is the certifications list on the app. 00:22:12.325 --> 00:22:14.955 I believe the families can see it on my profile too. 00:22:14.965 --> 00:22:18.775 It's at least on my profile when I click on it where there's options 00:22:18.775 --> 00:22:23.900 where you can select if you're CPR trained, CNA, EMT, or med tech in my 00:22:23.900 --> 00:22:25.980 case, I'm basic life support certified. 00:22:26.170 --> 00:22:29.260 So that encompasses CPR and first aid. 00:22:29.470 --> 00:22:33.450 And those were qualifications that I needed for my previous job 00:22:33.460 --> 00:22:35.210 working with special needs children. 00:22:35.590 --> 00:22:40.680 So a lot of those initial certifications can carry over, but the memory care 00:22:40.680 --> 00:22:45.380 modules and the dementia modules are really helpful and especially for 00:22:45.380 --> 00:22:50.120 people like me who might not have worked with older adults that much before. 00:22:50.280 --> 00:22:54.690 And then I would say that a lot of CareYaya students have majors where we 00:22:54.690 --> 00:22:56.360 are learning about these things too. 00:22:56.610 --> 00:23:00.870 So as a neuroscience major, I'm constantly learning about the new cutting edge 00:23:00.870 --> 00:23:05.407 things in memory care and Alzheimer's research, dementia research so I can 00:23:05.407 --> 00:23:09.867 keep those things in mind too as I am delivering care to people in real life. 00:23:10.447 --> 00:23:11.137 Candace Dellacona: Amazing. 00:23:11.137 --> 00:23:16.012 And, I can't as a sandwich generation member, I can't imagine anything better 00:23:16.012 --> 00:23:21.112 than having this young, bright student who is in the medical field, who wants 00:23:21.152 --> 00:23:27.392 to be there, who really sees it more as a vocation, a calling, as opposed to a 00:23:27.392 --> 00:23:32.382 job and, Neal, to your point about the burnout and the caregiver industry, we've 00:23:32.382 --> 00:23:34.372 seen a shortage here in New York City. 00:23:34.372 --> 00:23:38.952 So tell us a little, maybe from the university perspective, you've been 00:23:38.952 --> 00:23:44.812 able to get these amazing universities on board, and what should a university 00:23:44.852 --> 00:23:50.072 do to become part of CareYaya or are there students that can get that started 00:23:50.072 --> 00:23:53.542 in certain cities like New York that maybe you don't have as great of a 00:23:53.542 --> 00:23:55.512 presence and how would one go about that? 00:23:55.787 --> 00:23:57.057 Neal Shah: Yeah, great question, Candace. 00:23:57.077 --> 00:24:01.537 Pleased to say we are as of the last two to three months starting out in New York. 00:24:01.607 --> 00:24:06.367 So we started at Columbia University where pre health career advisors usually are 00:24:06.367 --> 00:24:11.217 like main opening point is when pre health career advisors, biology professors, reach 00:24:11.217 --> 00:24:14.467 out to us because they realize, and I think this is like an interesting point. 00:24:14.497 --> 00:24:17.797 It philosophically like even with Sydney's career trajectory and many 00:24:17.797 --> 00:24:18.987 of the students career trajectory. 00:24:19.287 --> 00:24:22.627 It has become harder and harder now to get into medical school, to get into physician 00:24:22.627 --> 00:24:25.617 assistant school, to get into nurse practitioner programs than, let's say, 20 00:24:25.617 --> 00:24:29.407 years ago when I was in college, so, as a result of that, many of the students are 00:24:29.437 --> 00:24:33.557 trying to get a lot of field experience sometimes graduate, and then take one to 00:24:33.577 --> 00:24:37.411 three years after college to accumulate a lot of care experience and then apply. 00:24:37.692 --> 00:24:41.792 So the career advisors know that, and they're always like looking for how can 00:24:41.792 --> 00:24:45.042 I help this student who really wants to apply to medical school, who applies to 00:24:45.042 --> 00:24:48.032 physician assistant school, by the way, physician assistant is a fast growing 00:24:48.032 --> 00:24:49.582 field over the last 20 years, right? 00:24:49.632 --> 00:24:54.392 And many of those schools require you to have 1000 to 3000 care hours 00:24:54.512 --> 00:24:55.712 to have a competitive application. 00:24:55.712 --> 00:24:59.272 Sometimes people, students prefer I need to get to 3000 as fast as 00:24:59.272 --> 00:25:00.612 possible so I can show I'm serious. 00:25:01.007 --> 00:25:04.777 Now, mathematically, there's no way to get that stuff during undergrad 00:25:04.927 --> 00:25:08.657 unless you can do part time, flexible hours, gig economy work, which no one 00:25:08.657 --> 00:25:09.897 in the care industry is set up for. 00:25:10.117 --> 00:25:10.957 Except CareYaya. 00:25:11.217 --> 00:25:15.147 Whenever the University of Michigan Pre Health Career Advising hears that, hey, 00:25:15.277 --> 00:25:19.367 here's a way that my students can actually get field experience in what they want to 00:25:19.367 --> 00:25:23.747 go to, and if they start on CareYaya as a sophomore, as a junior yes, by the time 00:25:23.747 --> 00:25:27.707 they graduate, they will have 2000, 3000, plus hours, and they can apply straight. 00:25:28.087 --> 00:25:31.087 And the grad school will be impressed that they'll be like, wow, this 00:25:31.087 --> 00:25:33.757 student is so passionate that they went out of their way to do that. 00:25:33.767 --> 00:25:36.637 And then for the students perspective, it's like, why not do this instead of 00:25:36.637 --> 00:25:39.827 working at the local coffee shop or doing DoorDash food delivery, right? 00:25:39.827 --> 00:25:41.967 It's like in line with what I want to do in my future. 00:25:42.227 --> 00:25:45.477 So the schools are very welcoming of the program and they're 00:25:45.477 --> 00:25:48.467 continually telling students about it and they love the feedback. 00:25:48.497 --> 00:25:52.007 So I think that's been an easy way to expand for us, but of course 00:25:52.027 --> 00:25:53.597 we're like a relatively small team. 00:25:53.597 --> 00:25:55.437 So I think when we expanded in New York, we went, Columbia 00:25:55.437 --> 00:25:56.577 first because they reached out. 00:25:56.882 --> 00:25:59.502 We now have a couple hundred Columbia students on actively doing it. 00:25:59.502 --> 00:26:00.472 That's been really awesome. 00:26:00.672 --> 00:26:03.332 One of them was featured on CNBC, which is really cool. 00:26:03.492 --> 00:26:06.072 Like they actually followed her into a care session. 00:26:06.262 --> 00:26:07.042 That was really cool. 00:26:07.042 --> 00:26:09.172 And then we're also active at Fordham. 00:26:09.497 --> 00:26:12.717 And I believe Hunter College we just started, but of course, if you guys 00:26:12.717 --> 00:26:16.157 know anyone at NYU or any of the other great universities we'd love to expand 00:26:16.157 --> 00:26:20.117 because like you said, New York is a huge market and sometimes I'm running 00:26:20.117 --> 00:26:22.487 this in North Carolina, we're always surprised when we go to new markets to 00:26:22.487 --> 00:26:24.057 realize what the cost of home care is. 00:26:24.397 --> 00:26:25.247 And I was stunned. 00:26:25.267 --> 00:26:29.057 I think in New York, it's averaging like 42 or 45 per hour. 00:26:29.057 --> 00:26:31.547 It's something unbelievably high, and 00:26:31.932 --> 00:26:32.472 Candace Dellacona: Absolutely. 00:26:33.032 --> 00:26:36.552 And it price was people out of the market almost immediately. 00:26:36.952 --> 00:26:40.642 And, Sydney, I would love to know, you have all of these hours under your 00:26:40.642 --> 00:26:42.902 belt and you are a healthcare major. 00:26:43.102 --> 00:26:44.722 What is next for you? 00:26:44.822 --> 00:26:51.432 And what experiences from CareYaya will you take in your future profession? 00:26:52.387 --> 00:26:54.987 Sydney Rosbury: Yeah, so I am hoping, I'm in the process 00:26:54.987 --> 00:26:58.822 right now of applying to several different Pre med gap year programs. 00:26:59.062 --> 00:27:02.382 I would really like to get into one of those because most of them allow 00:27:02.382 --> 00:27:06.512 a research component as well as a clinical care job and I think that would 00:27:06.522 --> 00:27:10.503 be a really cool combination to have and it's a combination that's pretty 00:27:10.503 --> 00:27:15.613 difficult to balance if you don't have a specific program designed for it. 00:27:15.883 --> 00:27:18.793 Because if you have a research job, that's going to be a full time job. 00:27:18.833 --> 00:27:22.633 And if you have a clinical care job, that will be, but some of these allow for both. 00:27:22.893 --> 00:27:24.453 So that is my goal right now. 00:27:24.643 --> 00:27:29.713 And I will say that CareYaya has had such an impact on me and I think it's 00:27:29.723 --> 00:27:34.083 really shown me the importance of treating patients as an individual 00:27:34.333 --> 00:27:39.213 and as a person and not generalizing care to an entire population because 00:27:39.213 --> 00:27:44.723 the reality is each person has really specific needs and it's really important 00:27:44.733 --> 00:27:48.213 to listen to their advocates, whether that be their son, their daughter, 00:27:48.213 --> 00:27:50.308 their spouse, brother or sister. 00:27:50.508 --> 00:27:53.348 Because those people truly do know the patient best. 00:27:53.598 --> 00:27:58.238 And I have so many examples of that, that I've just been really thankful that the 00:27:58.238 --> 00:28:03.588 CareYaya families are also so helpful, and they are really just hoping for 00:28:03.588 --> 00:28:07.028 the best for their loved one, and they give me that information that I need. 00:28:07.028 --> 00:28:13.078 So it's taught me a lot about care advocacy, and just how to approach a 00:28:13.078 --> 00:28:17.038 care situation, too, to make sure that the patient's needs are fully met. 00:28:17.658 --> 00:28:20.438 Candace Dellacona: You've almost created a runway for yourself and 00:28:20.788 --> 00:28:24.138 becoming the best caregiver in a professional setting that you can. 00:28:24.138 --> 00:28:27.048 And CareYaya has brought you to that place. 00:28:27.318 --> 00:28:30.028 And I think one of the things that you said that is so important 00:28:30.038 --> 00:28:31.708 is the advocacy piece, right? 00:28:31.728 --> 00:28:35.118 That's what we're trying to do with the Sandwich Generation Survival 00:28:35.118 --> 00:28:39.728 Guide is provide these resources like CareYaya, so that those of us stuck 00:28:39.728 --> 00:28:42.668 in the middle trying to advocate for our loved ones, whether it's our 00:28:42.668 --> 00:28:46.773 spouse and Neal in your circumstance, thank goodness your wife is okay. 00:28:47.033 --> 00:28:51.263 Having the sort of inside view of the limited options and knowing 00:28:51.263 --> 00:28:54.853 it's not one size fits all and that everyone is entitled to have 00:28:54.853 --> 00:28:56.403 the care customized for them. 00:28:56.403 --> 00:29:01.933 And it really should be something that is the norm as opposed to the anomaly. 00:29:02.343 --> 00:29:07.883 So I really can't thank you both enough for taking the time to share with us 00:29:07.923 --> 00:29:10.533 this incredible mission of CareYaya. 00:29:10.553 --> 00:29:15.173 Neal, do you have any sort of maybe inside scoop of what's coming next 00:29:15.203 --> 00:29:18.793 other than the amazing technology that you've obviously developed? 00:29:19.173 --> 00:29:21.803 Neal Shah: Yeah, actually, I have a very exciting project that's coming 00:29:21.803 --> 00:29:24.923 next that's rolling out quietly across the country right now, which 00:29:24.923 --> 00:29:28.213 is regarding people's troubling experiences with health insurance. 00:29:28.353 --> 00:29:30.883 So as we've all learned, I think it's been a national conversation 00:29:30.883 --> 00:29:34.193 where, health insurance claims denials have been skyrocketing 00:29:34.203 --> 00:29:35.563 in the last two to three years. 00:29:35.763 --> 00:29:38.573 And we see, of course, like with the United healthcare event 00:29:38.753 --> 00:29:42.113 it highlighted in the national attention, but we had been seeing it. 00:29:42.458 --> 00:29:44.498 One, I've experienced it myself, like during my wife's cancer, a 00:29:44.498 --> 00:29:47.428 lot of claims were denied and I was fighting it for hours and hours on the 00:29:47.428 --> 00:29:49.198 phone and writing all these letters. 00:29:49.408 --> 00:29:53.898 But then we started seeing it in our caregiving population where as Medicare 00:29:53.898 --> 00:29:57.938 now has been shifted to being administered by Medicare Advantage plans, like over 00:29:57.948 --> 00:30:00.348 half of the country's Medicare is going through Medicare Advantage, you know, 00:30:00.348 --> 00:30:03.928 these are for profit plans and they have absurdly high rates of denying claims. 00:30:04.178 --> 00:30:08.518 So we're seeing it across populations with, such as dementia such as terminal 00:30:08.518 --> 00:30:12.248 cancer where routine medications, we're seeing procedures, checkups 00:30:12.248 --> 00:30:15.138 are being denied, and it's creating a financial problem for people. 00:30:15.138 --> 00:30:19.068 So, we basically rolled out a new project through CareYaya called the Counterforce 00:30:19.088 --> 00:30:23.338 Health which is a suite of AI tools which we're just giving away for free to people. 00:30:23.603 --> 00:30:28.103 Like we built it as a passion project to automate the creation of well crafted 00:30:28.103 --> 00:30:29.713 appeals to the insurance companies. 00:30:29.863 --> 00:30:32.353 And the statistic there was we did a lot of research on this. 00:30:32.353 --> 00:30:37.008 And really, the problem is of the 49 million people that have had a denied 00:30:37.008 --> 00:30:40.028 claim within the last year, less than 1 percent of people appealed. 00:30:40.388 --> 00:30:42.928 Because most people don't know their rights, or most people 00:30:42.938 --> 00:30:43.918 think it's too intimidating. 00:30:43.918 --> 00:30:48.248 How am I gonna write an 8 page letter with medical necessity citations, fixing 00:30:48.248 --> 00:30:49.848 incorrect billing codes, things like that. 00:30:49.858 --> 00:30:50.648 They're overwhelmed. 00:30:50.858 --> 00:30:53.278 They're like, I don't have a brother or sister who's a doctor who can do 00:30:53.278 --> 00:30:56.743 this for me, so I'll just eat the cost, if I'm denied my meds, I'll 00:30:56.743 --> 00:30:59.323 pay, whatever, a few hundred bucks or I'll let it go to collections, 00:30:59.323 --> 00:31:02.763 so or in many cases, if it's a prior auth, people just not get the care. 00:31:03.083 --> 00:31:04.543 So we thought this is an outrage. 00:31:04.563 --> 00:31:07.393 And then when we started talking a lot of the clinicians, they were like, I 00:31:07.393 --> 00:31:11.573 don't have the time to do this because it cost my staff time and money and 00:31:11.573 --> 00:31:15.863 an average appeal cost a clinic around 45 dollars to process so that I can 00:31:15.863 --> 00:31:18.223 only write a few appeal letters once in a while, but not all of them. 00:31:18.493 --> 00:31:20.813 So we thought this is a great use case for AI. 00:31:21.073 --> 00:31:25.943 So we trained AI models using thousands and thousands of examples and case studies 00:31:25.983 --> 00:31:28.153 of appeals that have successfully worked. 00:31:29.238 --> 00:31:32.258 And now we've gotten it down to the point where you can upload your denial 00:31:32.258 --> 00:31:35.848 letter, you can upload your coverage policy, any other backup information, 00:31:35.868 --> 00:31:40.138 and within two minutes, it crafts a very well engineered, detailed appeal letter 00:31:40.138 --> 00:31:45.938 with real citations of okay, you had XYZ hospitalization, this is why it should be 00:31:45.938 --> 00:31:50.278 covered, you're on this XYZ medication for cancer, this is why it should be covered 00:31:50.533 --> 00:31:54.683 so you give full citations and then we are able to send the appeal letter for you. 00:31:54.883 --> 00:31:58.973 And then we built a voice AI agent that can actually call and deal with 00:31:58.973 --> 00:32:01.343 the insurance company's claim and billing department on your behalf. 00:32:01.563 --> 00:32:04.953 So these are all like the pain points that people don't want to deal with, 00:32:04.983 --> 00:32:08.483 or when they're sick, they find it extremely stressful to deal with, or 00:32:08.483 --> 00:32:10.053 their family caregiver has to deal with. 00:32:10.428 --> 00:32:12.068 So these are ways to reduce caregiver stress. 00:32:12.348 --> 00:32:15.078 So we're rolling that out now and that's going to be like, that's probably 00:32:15.078 --> 00:32:18.998 the most exciting thing for 2025 is want to improve care advocacy work. 00:32:19.008 --> 00:32:22.218 And I think our healthcare system is just so broken, like this, my 00:32:22.468 --> 00:32:25.468 takeaway, it's like screwing over all these people who cannot afford 00:32:25.698 --> 00:32:27.648 any extra time or financial stress. 00:32:28.113 --> 00:32:31.273 And the I'd say technology has been asymmetrically weaponized, 00:32:31.283 --> 00:32:32.903 by the large insurance companies. 00:32:32.923 --> 00:32:36.243 And, this is a good time to give people the tools to fight back. 00:32:36.303 --> 00:32:39.633 Candace Dellacona: Neal, if we needed any more proof that you're such a good egg 00:32:39.643 --> 00:32:44.813 using, your skills and your passion and your experience trying to help the rest 00:32:44.813 --> 00:32:47.593 of us muddle through being advocates. 00:32:47.603 --> 00:32:50.043 From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much. 00:32:50.073 --> 00:32:54.528 And we are going to put all of these resources online. 00:32:54.898 --> 00:32:58.698 And Sydney, I just want to wish you the best of luck as you graduate. 00:32:58.728 --> 00:33:03.658 And as you put forth your applications, any med school or graduate school 00:33:03.658 --> 00:33:05.598 would be so lucky to have you. 00:33:05.978 --> 00:33:10.398 And I am sure that, your path has been enriched by so many of 00:33:10.398 --> 00:33:11.688 the seniors that you've helped. 00:33:12.238 --> 00:33:16.498 I just knowing you the little bit that I do, I know that you've enriched their 00:33:16.498 --> 00:33:18.578 lives and I'm sure they've enriched yours. 00:33:19.198 --> 00:33:22.708 And for all of those who are listening to this, who's saying, 00:33:22.748 --> 00:33:25.998 Hey, one way university student would be a great fit for this. 00:33:26.028 --> 00:33:28.328 We'll make sure to have those resources for you. 00:33:28.358 --> 00:33:30.448 Any university administrators as well. 00:33:30.448 --> 00:33:31.988 I'll put you in touch with Neal. 00:33:32.488 --> 00:33:36.108 But I can't thank you both enough for spending such time and sharing your 00:33:36.108 --> 00:33:38.208 passion and your mission with us. 00:33:38.278 --> 00:33:39.508 Thank you so much guys. 00:33:39.953 --> 00:33:42.213 Sydney Rosbury: Thank you so much for this opportunity. 00:33:42.683 --> 00:33:43.993 Neal Shah: Yeah, thanks for the opportunity Candace. 00:33:44.013 --> 00:33:44.693 This was awesome.