It’s no secret that Appalachian states — especially West Virginia — rank poorly in nearly every national metric when it comes to health. The reasons why are nuanced. From lack of access to quality healthcare and soaring healthcare costs to social and environmental factors, there are countless reasons you could point to that explain why Appalachians experience a higher rate of health disparities. While many of us know that these statistics do not encapsulate the full Appalachian experience, they do highlight some very real issues that people across the region work tirelessly to address.
That’s precisely the mission at Moodr.
This proactive outreach platform uses text messaging to bridge the gap between healthcare providers and patients and to improve healthcare outcomes. I spoke with some of the team members from Moodr to learn more about how this West Virginia tech startup is changing the way healthcare providers connect with patients and their outlook as they prepare to share their mission on the international stage at the Startup World Cup this October.
Moodr’s Origin Story
When Moodr co-founder Jennifer Bender became Mon Health Medical Center’s first perinatal depression nurse navigator in 2020, her goal was to create a program that screened patients for depression at the beginning of pregnancy and continued to offer outreach and support services
throughout all stages of pregnancy and post-pregnancy. In the beginning, the program’s outreach methods were primarily done by contacting patients over the phone, but Jennifer quickly learned that this method wasn’t effective in allowing her to reach her patients — so she got creative.
“I had maybe two patients answer my phone calls. So when that wasn’t working, I requested a dedicated iPhone for the program and started texting people, and the reply rate was huge,” Jennifer explained.
Her contact list quickly grew to nearly 3,000 patients, and she was tracking everything for the program manually with a spreadsheet. “It took forever,” she recalled. “I was copying and pasting information and just making it work.” She knew this approach was working, but to truly be proactive and use this model in other healthcare settings, she knew she needed help. That’s when Moodr was born.
Jennifer’s concept was brought to Intermed Labs and M&S Consulting in Morgantown, WV, and soon enough, they built the Moodr platform based on her model.
“What they created is essentially a mini electronic health record that has patients’ charts, medication, nutrition and communication with other health care providers,” said Jackie Lytton, Moodr Marketing and Business Development Director. “Clinicians can see all of this information while they communicate with their patients. For the patient, it’s just a text message, and it’s a warm line so they can chat back.” According to Jackie, Moodr maintains an 85% response rate among users. Considering that the typical engagement rates for disease management programs averages only 13 percent1, Moodr’s approach is a game-changer.
Clients who have utilized Moodr have nothing but rave reviews. Jennifer happily shared dozens of positive notes including: ‘I love this program and couldn’t imagine having my baby without it.’ ‘I wish I’d had access to this program with my first pregnancy.’ ‘This program helped me through postpartum, and I hope that every woman going through postpartum has access to a program like this.”
With a demonstrated track record of success, the team at Moodr is looking ahead to get their platform in as many healthcare facilities as possible.
Moodr’s Path to the Startup World Cup
To help share their vision and potentially receive funding crucial to scaling the business, the Moodr team participated in IgniteWV, a pitch competition hosted by the WVU Encova Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Moodr made their pitch — with five other technology and innovation finalists — and ended up winning the top prize of $70,000 and a bid to compete at the Startup World Cup in San Francisco, CA, this October.
Participating in the Startup World Cup is groundbreaking for Moodr. As the largest startup competition in the world, it’s an opportunity for Moodr to share its vision with over 50,000 attendees and 2,500 investors while competing for the top award: $1 million. It’s the chance of a lifetime, and the team at Moodr could not be more excited.
“I’m looking forward to meeting as many people as I can and having the opportunity to talk about our business to such a large audience,” Jackie said. “You never know who’s going to be in the audience, so I’m excited to build those connections and see where that could take us.”
Equally as exciting for the Moodr team is the opportunity to be representing West Virginia and the greater Appalachian region on a global stage. “It’s so humbling to be able to represent our state,” Jackie said. “There’s a lot of innovation happening here in West Virginia that is often overlooked, so we hope to make West Virginia proud. It’s a huge honor.”
Moodr is leading by example and showing what’s possible for aspiring entrepreneurs across Appalachia. What started as a small team with a DIY solution to improve the health of West Virginia mothers will now be taking an international stage to share their vision with the world. As the Moodr team takes the stage at the Startup World Cup in San Francisco this October, they’ll be telling a story greater than their own – one rooted in Appalachian resourcefulness and possibility.
EDIT: While Moodr didn’t walk away with the million dollar prize, their journey to this competition in October was incredibly impactful. Learn more about Moodr Health and their experience at the Startup World Cup when you visit moodrhealth.com.
Sponsored Content
