About our project
The problem we solve: Finding services and activities for those with a special need is very difficult. Despite the huge numbers of people with a long-term or short-term need or disability, finding a quality provider, that you can afford, that is close to you is almost always difficult, time consuming and even impossible.
Access to information about providers and services is often only by word of mouth. This is just not a solution for those who need to find care.
Social demographic: Patients with special needs and disabilities often have multiple medical needs. They are a demographic within a demographic that is often overlooked. However therapy and treatment are effective in helping many with disabilities integrate and live healthier and more productive lives.
About our solution:
When you have or get a diagnosis AND you have special needs or a disability (even if short-term), finding medical care is even more difficult. For example, a typical dentist may not understand how to treat a person with autism who has oral sensitivities. Knowing that there are providers who will be attentive to special needs will increase preventative care and non-emergency care.
Gezoont is a directory and booking service to allow you to search for the provider you need, where you need them and then book an appointment. It is also a rating and review resource, and a place to learn about available therapies. It is in a HIPAA compliant environment. There is no other resource out there that is this specific, this comprehensive and this honed on inclusion.
Progress to
date:The website is being built and is well over halfway done. The first couple of blog posts are ready when the site is ready. I have preliminary interest from providers (healthcare and activity providers) and users (patients and clients). Because the website IS the product, it needs to be closer to finished to reach out more substantially.
About Our Team
Creator: Amy Kwalwasser
Location: New York
Education: Cornell law, Tel Aviv law, Univ. of Florida
Bio: My older son has special needs. Mild but it still became a part time job. It is extremely difficult to find services. There is a lack of directories and even less information about which providers and activities are appropriate and welcoming. There is an email group in Brooklyn where we live, and every time I needed a new doctor, camp, etc. I asked the group but even that entailed more hours of searching and verifying and waiting. Finding a pediatric neurologist took hours. (Please also see the About page on Gezoont.com.) I want to help caregivers and individuals find what they need and can trust much faster and more easily.
Title: Founder
Advanced Degree(s): LL.B. and LL.M.
About Our Company
How We Help Physicians
Physicians often refer their patients to complementary therapies. They do not always have up to date and relevant referral information. For example, your general practitioner may not know which naturopathic doctors are convenient, well respected and take insurance. This is a real gap in our medical system.
As another example, if you would like to send your attention challenged child to summer camp, it would be useful to have a list of appropriate camps instead of having to call around and hope for the best.
How We Help Hospitals
Similar to physicians or educators that need to refer their patients to other providers such as occupational therapists, acupunturists, physical therapists, behavior therapists, feeding therapists, social skills classes, etc., hospitals and the care providers there also need a resource (Gezoont.com) to refer their patients to so that their patients have a useful resource to find a therapist. This is important for patient follow through.
How We Help Partners
From the solo provider to the largest hospital and insurance company, and from the newest startup to suppliers of specialized equipment, there is huge unmet need. That unmet need is helping patients/users find the best services, therapies and products they need to make their lives more healthy.
Partners will benefit both directly and indirectly because they and their services will be listed in one place, Gezoont.com.
FYI - I filled in Partner Rewards below but it appears that it did not save. The Partner rewards are: (1) Significantly discounted listing fees for early listing and (2) Being interviewed or highlighted in the blog portion of the site.
Challenge Mission
How We Address the Mission of The Challenge(s)
Social Determinants Data Challenge
Gezoont is the online platform for special needs, aging concerns, injuries and disabilities (SAID) patients to find and schedule inclusive therapies and services. Easily. Additionally, clients with short-term or temporary needs will benefit from Gezoont because they have many of the same symptoms.
Gezoont = Health. It is the practical solution focused on improving the health of the SAID population and helping healthcare and wellness providers tailor their services. Providers sign-up to list their detailed profiles on Gezoont.com, and patients use the site for free. Providers can offer traditional medicine, complementary medicine or other services.
The SAID population is large, growing and underserved. In the U.S., approximately 40% of seniors have a disability, 15% of children have special needs, 1 in 5 adults in the U.S has a mental illness - that’s 45 million, and 40 million Americans have a disability. These conditions can be limiting, even debilitating and isolating - medically, socially and financially.
Gezoont’s platform will help patients navigate their healthcare journey from initial symptoms to quality of life activities. It provides patients with geographic search in order to find, schedule and discover therapies and services in a HIPAA compliant web environment. Patients will be able to rate and review providers and read others’ reviews and ratings. The blog comment section gives patients opportunities to share valuable information about which services are most effective for them. Therapies and services will cover a holistic range from traditional medicine to physical and occupational therapy, psychological counselling and nutrition to music therapy, and camps to social skills groups.
Gezoont will also collect patient data about appointments made, reviews and ratings, surveys, and blog post commentary to provide valuable data on patient preferences, which will help inform patients and providers about effective treatments for different risk profiles. Future build-outs would integrate decision-tree analysis of symptoms, diagnoses and treatments; and include a discussion forum.
Access To Care Challenge
Gezoont’s platform is a unique, direct and practical solution to improve access to healthcare and wellness for SAID patients (those with special needs, aging concerns, injuries and disabilities). Currently finding therapies and services is fragmented and consists of a mix of “word of mouth” and sites with limited and often outdated information. This can be isolating, marginalizing and lead to negative health outcomes.
Patient engagement and patient experience are significantly enhanced when the patient has the information and resources to make informed decisions. If you need an occupational therapist for your child, how would you find one? Ask the pediatrician, search online, ask friends, ask teachers …. first figure out what occupational therapy is ...
Gezoont shortens the patient journey - by combining disparate information and access on one user-friendly web platform by:
- Narrowing the information gap for finding and identifying healthcare and related services
- Providing relevant and detailed information about providers
- Listing providers that are accessible and inclusive
- Enabling geographic search to find providers close to home, school or work including remote appointments, provider travelling to patient, and telehealth.
- Inviting users to share information through the blog
- Including a scheduling feature for patients to book appointments
- Posting users’ ratings and reviews of providers
- In addition, Gezoont has accessible navigation and a translation button.
A physician may refer a patient to physical therapy, and now with Gezoont, the physician can refer the patient directly to Gezoont for up-to-date information. Gezoont is currently to be launched as a mobile enabled website. Future build-out includes a mobile app.
Access to care and all that it entails is difficult. Transportation, planning, finding care providers, identifying applicable therapies and treatments, staff trained to be inclusive sensitive each can prevent someone from seeking healthcare. Gezoont helps solve these barriers
Affordable Choices Challenge
Having a special need, aging concern, injury or disability (SAID) whether short or long-term, can affect almost every aspect of one’s life and require significant financial, time, psychological, family, medical and other resources.
Pay-for-value is essential when looking for effective healthcare and related services. Gezoont can help narrow affordability gaps by providing patients with the information and resources that they need Affordability gaps in healthcare information about effective treatments, therapies, services providers and related services. With a limited budget and limited time, choosing the right therapies makes a real difference in a patient’s quality of life.
Biohacking is taking our wellbeing into our own hands to find solutions to our health and wellness needs. When you have symptoms, treatment often goes beyond a diagnosis. Many persons with SAID have co-occurring conditions (for example, a person with autism is likely to have ADHD), which indicate additional healthcare needs . Providing those with SAID the care and services they need in order to live more integrated lives also increases their productivity and reduces the burdens on society.
New Orleans and Our Company
Gezoont looks forward to partnering with New Orleans medical providers, hospitals, wellness providers, government, businesses and community members to list their services on Gezoont’s directory. We welcome patients and clients to search and find services on Gezoont’s directory.
Gezoont is a two-way marketplace, designed for both patients and providers, on the one hand it optimizes patients’ ability to find and schedule healthcare and on the other hand it improves providers’ outreach and helps them tailor their services to reach more patients.
Disabilities are everywhere - some are visible and some are not. Gezoont aims to provide a practical healthcare and wellness finder and scheduler to those with SAID (special needs, aging concerns, injuries and disabilities) to be more included and have better access to care to lead better lives.
As both a tourism hub and a place many call home, New Orleans can increase its presence as an accessible, diverse and inclusive destination. Gezoont can help add New Orleans to the map of most accessible friendly cities and I cater to this large, growing and underserved market.
Innovation Details
Intellectual Property Summary
I own all rights to everything related to the website. There will be an agreement in place with each provider such that I will not have liability for their information. I have filed for Trademark protection for the name Gezoont and expect a favorable decision from the PTO.
Clinical Information
Not applicable. This is a directory, information and scheduling website.
Regulatory Status
Not applicable.
How we will use the funds raised
Mainly website improvements and data analytics. Also reaching out to providers and partners (e.g., targeted and useful advertisers and also insurance companies) and marketing.
Thank You
The numbers are staggering. In the US, almost 40 million people have a disability, 13% of children in public schools have a special need, nearly 1 in 5 adults has a mental illness, there are almost 3 million workplace non-fatal injuries and illnesses each year, 25% of the population 65 or older has a disability, 1 in 59 children has a autism, and 1 in 2 people try an alternative therapy. BUT there is no single place (and very few individual places) to find quality care and welcoming services. This is what Gezoont will do.
Gezoont is designed to help people find and acess the services they need. It is providing information and access as power to the patient.
