Imagine you’re about to go into the hospital for a procedure. A few weeks prior, your doctor’s office hands you a stack of papers with confusing information about how to prepare, what to expect and how to recover. Not only are you nervous about the procedure, now you need to organize all the instructions and keep up with them. You feel more like a passenger on this journey and not a participant.
This is where BeeWell comes in. BeeWell has designed a patient-facing app that provides education, tasks, schedules and reminders to prepare a patient before, during and after their procedure. The app not only engages the patient in their care but also keeps his/her doctors and family informed. And, it is an amazing tool for a practice to improve outcomes and patient satisfaction.
Dr. Alden Parsons, a top thoracic surgeon at WakeMed and BeeWell’s co-founder along with her husband Dr. Stephen Parsons, worked hard throughout her career to prepare her patients emotionally and physically for surgery. Despite her best efforts, there was never enough time for ongoing support and patients didn’t always feel educated or empowered to make the best decisions. This is why she and her husband, a neonatologist, founded BeeWell in 2015.
York Property Manager Shawn Seuberling and BD Manager Julie Paul visited with CEO Matt Womble and Accounts & Operations Manager Luciana Gray in their cozy office in Powerhouse Square. In addition to hearing the inspiring story of their business, we got a chance to ask some fun questions:
What inspired the name BeeWell? Bees and honey are longtime symbols of health – and we want patients to be well.
Are you involved in the urban bee movement (Bee Downtown or Apiopolis)? We do support and partner with local beekeepers. Perhaps our property managers would allow a beehive? [Property owner note: Under advisement…]
What are your future plans? We want to help improve people’s lives by empowering them to better navigate the complex healthcare system while improving their health. Our current clients are hospitals and medical practices that provide surgical interventions. In the future we want to help educate and prevent health issues from occurring in the first place.
What would you like our triangle community to know about your company? Our nation spends over $3.5 trillion annually on healthcare, 18%+ of our GDP. Empowering patients has proven to reduce healthcare expenses by over 21%. The Triangle is rich with innovation and healthcare – BeeWell will bridge these two strengths by helping put patients first. And it’s really inspiring to work for a woman who founded the business because she saw a need and filled it!
Favorite thing to do around the office and/or in Raleigh? Luciana said the team enjoys the walkability of the area, the historic aspects, the many restaurants, and variety of people that represent the heart of a very unique and welcoming city. Matt likes to hold walking meetings, and will often pick up plastic and other trash along the way (see picture). He’s curious if other downtown businesses would like to join him in a trash-bucket brigade. The staff also enjoy stopping off for a beer at co-tenant Clouds Brewing to relax at the end of a day.
