Investing Pitch Perfect Spotlight: How Duos takes advantage of technology to support the elderly

The number of Americans aged 65 and over is expected to increase to 82 million by 2050, an increase of 47% compared to 58 million in 2022. And access to quality health care is often confusing and an important challenge for this population.

This is what Duos, a technology service provider for Advantage Medicare plans, hopes to change. He supports the elderly and their caregivers by meeting health -related social needs and connecting patients to care. The company based in Minneapolis, in Minnesota, was recently crowned winner of the Pitan Invest Pitch Pitch competition in Medcity. Investor judges estimated six startups in total focused on navigation and coordination of care.

“We don’t want people to live longer,” Karl Ulfers, CEO and co-founder of Duos said in a recent interview. “We want them to have more life in the years they really discover, and that is why we really focus on the development of technology and the automation of the coverage of these elderly people around their health -related social needs. Because everyone should have the right to have transport to go to their appointments to the doctor or go out in their community. Everyone should have the right to live in a security house. ”

When the company contracts with a health plan, it can start to engage with members by SMS, e-mail and mail to inform them of this advantage and the option of reaching Duos. Members can then share their main social determinants with health and care needs, such as food support or transport. The company can then connect them with resources and suppliers depending on their cover, location and other needs.

ULFERS has given the example of someone who qualifies for the additional nutritional assistance program (SNAP).

“An older adult, thanks to our experience, can not only be identified that they qualify for Snap-Ebt, but we will discuss with them and answer questions that automatically write about the Snap-Ebt application,” he said. “And then once we explain the program to them and we get their approval, we capture their digital signature, then in one click, we are able to send their application to state or county managers, depending on where they live, then connect them to this Snap-Ebt advantage.”

Duos can also aggregate members’ data and provide usable information to the Customer of the Health Plan.

One of the judges of investors of the Pitch Perfect competition said that he had selected duets as a competition winner because “family caregivers are among the greatest heroes unknown to health care”.

“Any technology or service which is able to provide them with additional transparency of the advantages, a lever effect in their time and a global peace of mind, is certainly a victory for all healthcare stakeholders when they are effectively delivered,” said Derek Mazur, director of Cedar Pine, who leads investment in health care for the company. “Duos seem to unlock this capacity.”

Duos raised around $ 30 million. Some of its investors include Forerunner Ventures and Primetime Partners.

One of its customers in the health plan is Humana, which Duos announced a partnership with last year to support veterans. The company has also extended to prescription medication plans and Medicaid.

Duos’ support is particularly necessary because government plans face significant changes due to federal budget cuts, according to ULFERS.

“In all sectors of Medicare Advantage, prescription drugs and Medicaid, all these plans will change over the next two years, and this will create an incredible amount of confusion,” he said. “We want to be this voice of simplicity and access to the elderly of this country to understand what changes and how they can make sure they continue to obtain an incredible quality of care.”

Companies that offer similar services include Mpulse and Cleo. However, the main competitor of duets is often the health plans themselves, because many will try to provide these services by themselves, said Ulfers.

Photo: Nick Panion, Breaking Media