Spatially Health is a company that built a cloud-based decision-guiding platform called the Equity Equalizer Platform, which ties the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) factors to health outcomes and costs. The company empowers healthcare organizations to achieve health equity by providing actionable insights into the health barriers facing their patient populations. Pulse 2.0 interviewed Spatially Health founder and CEO Hillit Meidar-Alfi, Ph.D., to learn more about the company.
Dr. Meidar-Alfi’s Background
Dr. Meidar-Alfi was born in Philadelphia and is the daughter of immigrant parents who moved to the United States from Israel in the late 1960s. And Dr. Meidar-Alfi said:
“Early in my career, I worked with architecture firms that consistently entered design competitions. In graduate school, I developed methodologies to measure Quality of Life and help municipalities prioritize budgets to help improve services. I also lead seminars in City and Regional Planning. I then shifted careers to information technology, applying the skills I learned early on in building structures, recognizing patterns, and integrating differences — only this time using data.”
“My company first did research-based work within the real estate industry. Then I had the opportunity to learn about how I could apply my skills in advanced analytics and data management within the healthcare sector.”
Formation Of Spatially Health
How did the idea for the company come together? Dr. Meidar-Alfi shared:
“Back in 2012, my mother was diagnosed with cancer. It was a very aggressive cancer, and she needed to start treatment immediately. I would visit her almost daily at the hospital. I distinctly remember people always coming in and out, A lot of them were waiting for transportation to take them somewhere, and it made me realize these patients just underwent intensive treatment and they had no one to take care of them and take them home.”
“Understanding the level of care my mother needed, it was incomprehensible to understand how somebody who doesn’t have even basic means can help themselves.”
“It inspired my journey into healthcare. As business leaders in the healthcare space and as people in the community, we have the ability and responsibility to improve quality of life, and that’s what inspired my journey to launch Spatially Health, to improve health equity.”
Favorite Memory
What has been your favorite memory working for the company so far? Dr. Meidar-Alfi reflected:
“We’ve experienced significant growth over the past year, and it has been exciting to see the evolution of the company and platform. We have a great team and outstanding clients, and I am excited to see what the next year brings.”
Core Products
What are the company’s core products and features? Dr. Meidar-Alfi explained:
“Spatially Heath’s Equity Equalizer Platform is a social determinants of health (SDOH) guidance platform that helps healthcare providers identify and address health barriers in their vulnerable populations.”
“Using location intelligence and spatial analytics, the Equity Equalizer Platform provides comprehensive insights into the most prevalent health barriers and their impact on costs and quality. This helps healthcare providers prioritize outreach efforts and ensure patients receive effective, targeted care. By identifying health barriers at a hyper-local level, our platform provides personalized recommendations for interventions, making it easier for provider teams to connect patients with the right interventions to improve patient engagement, improve the quality of care, and promote health equity.”
Challenges Faced
After asking Dr. Meidar-Alfi about the challenges faced in building the company, she acknowledged:
“The healthcare industry is shifting from the conventional fee-for-service model to a value-based care model, putting a greater emphasis on health equity. This shift requires healthcare providers to address patient’s social risks, which can significantly impact health outcomes. However, many healthcare organizations are slow to adopt this model due to the evolving requirements and lack of understanding of how to effectively incorporate SDOH into their care delivery process.”
Evolution Of Spatially Health’s Technology
How has the company’s technology evolved since launching? Dr. Meidar-Alfi noted:
“We are very fortunate to work with exceptional clients who have contributed valuable feedback. Their inputs have helped us shape our platform and also guide its future evolution. Furthermore, we have invested and continue to invest in the platform’s backend infrastructure.”
Significant Milestones
What have been some of the company’s most significant milestones? Dr. Meidar-Alfi cited:
“While several health technology companies have had to downsize their workforce, we have been fortunate enough to witness growth. This year, we have added six clients and have hired additional full-time employees.”
Customer Success Stories
After asking Dr. Meidar-Alfi about customer success stories, she highlighted:
“One of our clients was interested in obtaining county contracts in a particular state, but they didn’t have a solid strategy in place. They were simply bidding on counties they believed would be a good fit for them. However, after using our platform, they were able to identify specific counties to target based on various criteria such as their growth potential, capabilities, strengths, and other local conditions like access to specialists and primary care providers. They ended up bidding on the counties recommended by our platform, knowing that if they won those contracts, they would already have a plan in place and know how to fill any gaps. In the end, we helped them take a more targeted approach to their growth opportunities, which made them more competitive in their bidding strategy.”
Total Addressable Market
What total addressable market (TAM) size is the company pursuing? Dr. Meidar-Alfi assessed that it is a $12.2 billion total addressable market.
Differentiation From The Competition
What differentiates the company from its competition? Dr. Meidar-Alfi affirmed:
“Our approach to addressing social determinants of health and advancing health equity starts by identifying health barriers at the individual level. We can then extend these insights to any segment, cohort, population, market, or geography.”
“By identifying health barriers at hyper-local levels, our platform can deliver personalized intervention recommendations and quickly connect provider teams with the right interventions to enhance patient care and promote health equity. Furthermore, our platform enables the tracking interventions and integration of care coordination directly within the platform.”
Future Company Goals
What are some of the company’s future company goals? Dr. Meidar-Alfi concluded:
“Our organization’s values revolve around preserving the essential right to dignity and equity in healthcare. Our main objective is to empower healthcare providers to offer patients comprehensive care that tackles the underlying causes of their health issues regardless of where they are. We aim to achieve this by seamlessly incorporating social determinants of health into health practice.”
