March 5, 2024 • 20 mins
Step inside the visionary mind of Charles Gellman, the CEO whose leap from Big Pharma to launching HiDOHealth is redefining medication management with AI robotics. As I, Dylan Burke, uncover the tales of triumph and trial with Charles, you'll be privy to the innermost details of HiDO's inception—a device that's not just smart, but intuitive, using face ID technology to ensure that patients grappling with chronic diseases never miss a beat in their medication schedules.
This conversation is a deep dive into the strategic intricacies shaping HiDOHealth's pursuit to alleviate the healthcare industry's pressure points. We unravel how Charles's team is crafting their technology to snugly fit the needs of patients who frequent hospital corridors, all while building bridges with healthcare plans to make these advances accessible. The dialogue brims with the raw energy of startup life, the ingenuity of partnerships, and the profound influence mentorship has in steering a ship through the uncharted waters of healthcare robotics. Don't miss out on this stimulating blend of passion, innovation, and real-world impact—a narrative well beyond the threshold of inspiration.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hey folks, welcome back to the growing Lean podcast
sponsored by Lean DiscoveryGroup, an award-winning app and
software development firm basedin Virginia.
This is your host, Dylan Burke,also known as Dege.
Today I'm powered by MagicMind,this awesome productivity shot
that I've been taking for acouple of weeks.
It helps with my productivity,my alertness and my
(00:24):
self-diagnosed ADHD.
It's really awesome.
I'm happy to be here today withCharles Gelman, CEO at
HydroHealth.
Welcome, Charles.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm really excited to chatabout some interesting topics
today.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Yeah, I'm excited to learn more about you.
So, without further ado, canyou give us a little bit about
your history and background andwhat led you to HydroHealth?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yeah, so I started my career in the pharmaceutical
side, worked at a company thatmany of you may be aware of,
which is Johnson Johnson.
Then I moved into medicaldevice, spent some time on
software, also worked atcompanies like Premier,
walters-cluar and Nuance, beforewe were acquired by Microsoft.
My background is in datascience and clinical informatics
(01:10):
, so I went to graduate schooland studied along many other
doctors and physicians there,and then I've spent also some
time at Startup's Medu as astartup advisor for a company
specializing in computationaldata and drug discovery.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Okay, that's awesome.
It's a great background you'vegot there, and can you run me
through the mostly like whatyour product is, if you can give
us a little elevator pitch?
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Sure, yeah, so I'm not sure.
For those of you that arewatching or listening, there's a
bunch of devices.
We specialize in AI robotics.
So Hydro stands for healthinformation data outcomes, and
it looks like a miniature curatecoffee machine, but it uses
face ID.
So imagine walking up to yourcurate coffee machine and it
(01:59):
knew the flavor of coffee, thetemperature and the volume.
Hydro does that for medicationsfor folks at home that are
taking multiple medications andhave chronic disease.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Okay, awesome, awesome.
And could you run us through abit of your overall business
strategy, like, where are you atcurrently?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Yeah, so we do a combination of research as well
as providing devices to MedicareAdvantage or at risk payer
populations.
So we've done research withStanford.
We started with HIV at riskbehavioral health and mental
health disorders in theirpatient population there, and
(02:42):
that was NIH funded.
Then we moved on to aninteresting segment which we can
talk about a little bit further, which is mild to moderate
dementia patients at RushUniversity in Chicago, which was
NIH funded, which has goneremarkably well.
And then we focus really onthose high cost patients that
payers have to manage alreadywith hospitalizations, er visits
(03:05):
and medications and what we dowith high dose.
We stabilize them in the homeso they can assist themselves
and live independently.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Okay, so that's super interesting.
And who is the ideal?
Firstly, who's the ideal userof the product and who is your
ideal customer?
Speaker 2 (03:25):
So the ideal user are folks that generally have had
multiple hospital admissionsover the previous 12 months or
ER visits and they want tostabilize their cocktails or
medications in the home.
So they generally have four orfive plus medications.
Maybe they have cardiovasculardisease, diabetes, they could
(03:47):
have non-diagnosed cognitiveimpairment or dementia there's a
variety of different diseasestates.
So anybody that's gone to thehospital on a regular basis and
that's really our patientpopulation and who we sell to is
really regional health plansand we focus on their high cost
patients so we can reducepremiums for the broader
populations.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Okay, that's amazing.
And on LinkedIn it says youlaunched or you started the
business about one and a halfyears ago.
So what have been the biggestchallenges?
Firstly, in launching thebusiness, I'm not sure if you
raised funds or if youbootstrapped it.
What have been the biggestchallenges there for you?
Speaker 2 (04:26):
So we actually we did raise angel funding, so we
raised over a million and a halfin funding and we've been very
grateful for the support fromthe government.
Both the NIH and the NAI havesupported us with grants and
we've applied to a variety ofphase two grants which could
lead to multimillion dollarnon-deleted funding.
Some of the greatestbottlenecks and challenges that
(04:50):
we've incurred is reallystarting in a product segment
where there's a lot of otherfolks that existed and, at least
from my perspective, we thoughtthat what we created would have
existed 20 years ago.
So let me back up a little bitand I'll tell you exactly why we
got into it.
With my background being in datascience, my overarching goal
(05:12):
was to really uncover theblueprint for healthcare based
upon the different medications,based upon age, race, disease as
well as chronic care disease,and because of my time spent at
Johnson Johnson, I was able toview firsthand the type of
variations that exist fromprovider to provider, based upon
specialty and patientpopulation.
(05:34):
So I looked into the market andit was trying to determine a
very simple premise Are patientstaking or missing their
medications?
And we came to the conclusionvery quickly that a lot of the
devices in the market could notsolve that very, very simple
question.
So that is exactly why westarted the business so we can
(05:55):
document, dose by dose, what'sgoing on and then alter patients
behaviors so they can live amore productive, healthy life
outside of the hospital.
Vr.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Okay, amazing and so just maybe a little bit confused
.
How is the product actuallygonna work?
So are people gonna keep theirmedication near the product and
take it like in front of it, oris it gonna administer the
medication?
Can you run me through like theuser side of it?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Yeah, yeah.
So when you walk up to theHydroDevice, it looks like a
miniaturized R2D2 uvenant.
It'll use face ID or a passcode.
You can unlock it with yourface or, if you remember your
passcode, you can unlock withthe passcode.
It'll dispense the rightmedications at the right time,
the right dosage, the rightfrequency and the right count,
(06:48):
so you, as a patient, no longerhave to remember those complex
prescribing regimens that yourdoctor or doctors have given to
you.
Then you take the medicationsin front of the unit.
We have a video observationrecording to quantify that has
occurred, and that is it on theend user.
(07:11):
So a lot of the lift has reallybeen done by the HydroTeam your
pharmacist, your doctors.
Already All we're doing isensuring that you're following
those complex regimens at homeso you can stabilize your health
and spend time with the mostimportant thing, which is your
family and your loved ones, anddoing the activities that you
(07:31):
love, versus the alternativeswhich many people encounter,
which are the hospitalizationsthat you are, visits and other
forms that people wanna stay outof.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Okay, that's amazing.
And so you mentioned thatpatients with dementia are gonna
be a target user.
So what if they forget to go upto the machine?
Does it send them anotification?
Does it make a noise?
How does it remind them?
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Yeah, this is a great question.
So, as far reaching as thissounds, as crazy as it may sound
, patients with severe cognitiveimpairment, dementia and
Alzheimer's are able to utilizea device without the assistance
of others.
So great question how is thateven possible?
Yeah Right, so there's a systemof ways to alter people's
(08:22):
behaviors, and one it could be anotification on the phone.
If people can't remember, thena notification or text message
could go to their caregiver sothey can remind them.
So now you have a supportnetwork, or imagine, you know, a
flashing light on the device ora sound or perhaps a video
(08:44):
message from a clinician sayinghave you gone and taken your
medications today?
So I think it depends upon thelevel of cognitive impairment
and we have a decision tree inthe background that we are able
to engage them in the process.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Okay, that's awesome.
And then I imagine that, withthe facial recognition and the
passwords and what have you, ifthey go up and they've forgotten
they've taken their medicine inthe morning, it'll obviously
tell them no, you're all good,you've taken it for the day.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Yeah.
So imagine for the first timeever, knowing, dose by dose,
whether or not people take theirmedications.
But even more importantly, ifthey've already taken them, then
it'll prompt them.
Congratulations You've takenyour medications for the day.
So we no longer have all ofthose medication errors
happening in the home and thosearen't reported in the first
(09:34):
place.
So it's a way of smoothing outthe process and making things a
lot easier on patients.
We have a lot to manage anyways.
It's just about smoothing thatout for a lot of folks.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Okay, amazing.
I love this idea, this conceptand your passion behind it.
I can see it's going to be huge, so I'm excited for you.
I'm keen to see where this goes, and I want to go back to the
business side of things.
Where are you at in terms ofgetting to market?
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Yeah, so we are going to contract manufacturing and
scaling now.
We're very, very excited withwhat's happening right now.
We're looking at a couple moreacademic collaborations where
we're looking to improve accessto underserved communities,
minorities as well associoeconomically disadvantaged
folks.
So we have a variety ofdifferent partnerships right now
(10:25):
, and then we're also looking toscale with regional Medicare
Advantage plans in the UnitedStates and as we continue to
grow and more people know aboutwhat is possible to stabilize
these populations, we will scaleup accordingly.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Okay, great, great, and I assume there would have
been like some regulatory orregulations that you'd have to
get approved.
I don't know if it would needto go through the FDA, or what
are the approvals that you'vehad to get, and have you got all
of them necessary?
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Yeah, so there is a framework of regulations and
compliance that are required,and I don't know bore your
audience with all of those, butyes there are.
There are a number of differentFDA regulations that monitors
medical devices, depending uponhow much that where they qualify
or qualify as that.
(11:20):
You have to go through thisprocess, as well as quality
management systems, so there's avariety of things that you have
to continue to update and keepgood compliance standards.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Okay, awesome.
And have you reached thecurrent level of compliance to
get to market?
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Yes so.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Okay, that's awesome.
I love that, and can you paintme a picture of where you see
the business heading in the next, let's say, one year, three
years, five years and 10 years?
So what is your long-term goal?
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Yeah.
So this is my long-term goal, iswhat I've always dreamed of,
and that's the blueprint forhealth.
If we could quantify, based upondifferent populations and
disease states, the cocktail ofmedications that best serves you
, me, our friends, our family,our neighbors, and quantify
(12:14):
those medications with the bestoutcomes so people can live a
long, healthy, happy life,that's ultimately the goal.
So that's not just the goal forone, three, five.
That's been the entire goal andmission the entire time.
As we scale, we become closerand closer every single day, and
that's what's so exciting isthat we are so close to doing
(12:35):
something that's so remarkableamongst disease states that I
never thought was even possible.
Saying a year ago, if we weretalking, dylan, that we're going
to be on dementia patients, Iwould have thought that you're
crazy and I was crazy that youwould try it, but it's possible.
So maybe we're underestimatingthe power of the human brain and
our own internal bias of whatis possible.
(12:56):
And by having assisted robotics, it can enable people to live
independently on their own,without being dependent on the
40 million caregivers in theUnited States and beyond.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
That's.
It's crazy to think like I'vegot old grandparents.
They still like completelymentally there, but sometimes
they forget, you know, and Iworry about them because they
take a lot of medication and Ithink this is like the typical
use cases for that type ofperson, who otherwise forget
that they've taken it or forgetto take their like important
(13:30):
medication.
So I'm like I'm super excitedto see where this goes.
I'm definitely going to followyour journey after this.
I'm really excited and in likethe super long term, are you
looking to take this and scaleit forever, or do you have a
long term goal of making like abig exit?
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Yeah, so my goal is to impact as many people as
possible.
However, we reach that goal toimpact major populations is what
we'll do.
So in the future, as thingsscale, if it makes sense to
vertically integrate with alarger company or with larger
distribution so we can reach thepeople, to create that
(14:10):
blueprint, then that would bethe decision.
If that's the best course, orif we have a huge raise or
raises of funding to grow thiscompany and organically scale or
purchase other companies, we'llfigure out whatever the best
approach is in order to fulfillthat mission.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Okay, that's epic, and have there been any
partnerships or collaborationsthat have been effective in
helping you get here?
Like, what does your team looklike?
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Yeah, so the team is a bunch of misfits I would say
Primarily engineers.
So we have a lot of very, verysharp engineers from all of the
world that have joined us at afraction of the cost that their
work worth, because they want tofulfill this mission for the
greater good of humanity, andI'm super grateful and thankful
(15:00):
for the passion that they share,that they want to drive this
mission to reality.
And so our team is primarily,you know, a group of engineer
software developers as well, aswe have partners from, you know,
different mentorships out ofthe house.
You know that range anywherefrom pharma to health payers to
(15:20):
investors.
We've have just a very strongnetwork of advocates behind us
and we'll continue to grow thoserelationships and partnerships
as we move forward.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Okay, epic, amazing.
And I just want to jump back tothe products quickly, because I
remember, when we were chattingoffline, you mentioned that the
end user will most likely nothave to pay for the unit.
It'll be paid for by theirmedical insurance.
Right, that's correct, yeah, soyeah, patients do not pay.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Yeah, patients do not pay a dime for this.
They pay zero dollars, and thereason behind them not paying
anything is because it smoothsout the delivery of care.
So when you go into a hospitalor you go into a clinic, that's
a sterile environment.
Patients are going toclinicians where they work, but
(16:12):
we've never brought theclinician or the medications
directly to the patient andassisted them in the home, and
we can do that at a fraction ofthe cost.
Therefore, the payers or thehealth plans can pay for it
within all the premiums, becauseit lowers the total cost of
care.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Yeah, so it might be like a big one-off payment to
roll them out, but in the longterm it's going to save them
tons of money.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Oh yeah yeah.
We've already seen a 70%reduction of the total cost of
care for cardiovascularpopulations and as we scale this
out, you have unit economicsthat really drive costs down
substantially.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Okay, that's awesome.
Well, look, I'm looking superforward to seeing where this
goes.
I'm definitely going to followyour journey, and we are coming
to the end of the show, butbefore we go, I wanted to ask
what advice would you like togive to other business owners
looking to succeed, firstly inthe healthcare industry and just
in general?
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Yeah.
So the reason why we're in aposition that we are right now
is not because of me, it's notbecause of the vision.
It really comes down to thefolks that are around us.
So I believe very strongly inthe power of your network and we
have some fantastic mentors andinvestors, all sharing the
vision.
But the reason why we're in aposition is because I lean on
(17:39):
them.
You know, when we have ideas orthoughts, I can text message or
I can have a conversation withthem, so it helps guide us along
the right path.
So, as a business owner, you'regoing through a roller coaster
ride and you're trying todetermine.
You know which way to go onthat roller coaster and, as I
see the startup community, it'sreally you're building that
(18:02):
track as you're on that rollercoaster and you're trying to put
it in your way and deviate.
According to me, so having verysuccessful people that can help
support you on your mission aswell as help you see an outside
perspective, I believe ismission critical if you're going
to be successful in execution.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Yeah, I couldn't agree more and that's actually a
common thought on the podcastis don't be afraid to ask for
help or seek mentorship, andthat's a common thing that
people often overlook.
They think they've got thisidea, their baby, and they can
just jump into it and do itthemselves.
But, like, never be afraid toseek mentorship or ask for other
(18:44):
perspectives, like you said, Ithink that's super important in
building, especially, arevolutionary business.
So, that being said, charles,thank you so much for being on
the show.
I've really enjoyed learningmore about your product and your
business and I'm lookingforward to seeing what the
future holds.
I know it's going to be superbright.
So what is the best way forpeople to reach out to Charles
(19:06):
Gelman?
To follow your journey.
And, yeah, if they want tofollow your journey and see
where it goes.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Yeah, so you know anybody who's listening to this.
Please find me on LinkedIn.
It's Charles Gelman Gelman withtwo L's.
Or you can go to hydrohealthcomand you can see a little bit
more about the product.
We have a lot of videos and wehad a film production crew of
follows for three years.
So those are patienttestimonials, payer testimonies,
as well as more broaderinformation about hydro.
(19:35):
But please connect with me onLinkedIn, you know, join the
network and you can follow ourjourney.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Okay, amazing.
Well, thanks again, Charles,and if you or any of the
listeners here would like to trythe Magic Mind shot that I
spoke about they're reallyawesome you can visit
wwwmagicmindcom.
Forward slash growing and theremight be a little discount in
there for you.
But thanks again for your time,Charles.
I've really had a great timetoday.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Thank you, dylan, appreciate it Awesome.
Cheers.
Hey folks, welcome back to the growing Lean podcast
sponsored by Lean DiscoveryGroup, an award-winning app and
software development firm basedin Virginia.
This is your host, Dylan Burke,also known as Dege.
Today I'm powered by MagicMind,this awesome productivity shot
that I've been taking for acouple of weeks.
It helps with my productivity,my alertness and my
(00:24):
self-diagnosed ADHD.
It's really awesome.
I'm happy to be here today withCharles Gelman, CEO at
HydroHealth.
Welcome, Charles.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Thank you so much for having me.
I'm really excited to chatabout some interesting topics
today.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
Yeah, I'm excited to learn more about you.
So, without further ado, canyou give us a little bit about
your history and background andwhat led you to HydroHealth?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
Yeah, so I started my career in the pharmaceutical
side, worked at a company thatmany of you may be aware of,
which is Johnson Johnson.
Then I moved into medicaldevice, spent some time on
software, also worked atcompanies like Premier,
walters-cluar and Nuance, beforewe were acquired by Microsoft.
My background is in datascience and clinical informatics
(01:10):
, so I went to graduate schooland studied along many other
doctors and physicians there,and then I've spent also some
time at Startup's Medu as astartup advisor for a company
specializing in computationaldata and drug discovery.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Okay, that's awesome.
It's a great background you'vegot there, and can you run me
through the mostly like whatyour product is, if you can give
us a little elevator pitch?
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Sure, yeah, so I'm not sure.
For those of you that arewatching or listening, there's a
bunch of devices.
We specialize in AI robotics.
So Hydro stands for healthinformation data outcomes, and
it looks like a miniature curatecoffee machine, but it uses
face ID.
So imagine walking up to yourcurate coffee machine and it
(01:59):
knew the flavor of coffee, thetemperature and the volume.
Hydro does that for medicationsfor folks at home that are
taking multiple medications andhave chronic disease.
Speaker 1 (02:13):
Okay, awesome, awesome.
And could you run us through abit of your overall business
strategy, like, where are you atcurrently?
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Yeah, so we do a combination of research as well
as providing devices to MedicareAdvantage or at risk payer
populations.
So we've done research withStanford.
We started with HIV at riskbehavioral health and mental
health disorders in theirpatient population there, and
(02:42):
that was NIH funded.
Then we moved on to aninteresting segment which we can
talk about a little bit further, which is mild to moderate
dementia patients at RushUniversity in Chicago, which was
NIH funded, which has goneremarkably well.
And then we focus really onthose high cost patients that
payers have to manage alreadywith hospitalizations, er visits
(03:05):
and medications and what we dowith high dose.
We stabilize them in the homeso they can assist themselves
and live independently.
Speaker 1 (03:13):
Okay, so that's super interesting.
And who is the ideal?
Firstly, who's the ideal userof the product and who is your
ideal customer?
Speaker 2 (03:25):
So the ideal user are folks that generally have had
multiple hospital admissionsover the previous 12 months or
ER visits and they want tostabilize their cocktails or
medications in the home.
So they generally have four orfive plus medications.
Maybe they have cardiovasculardisease, diabetes, they could
(03:47):
have non-diagnosed cognitiveimpairment or dementia there's a
variety of different diseasestates.
So anybody that's gone to thehospital on a regular basis and
that's really our patientpopulation and who we sell to is
really regional health plansand we focus on their high cost
patients so we can reducepremiums for the broader
populations.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Okay, that's amazing.
And on LinkedIn it says youlaunched or you started the
business about one and a halfyears ago.
So what have been the biggestchallenges?
Firstly, in launching thebusiness, I'm not sure if you
raised funds or if youbootstrapped it.
What have been the biggestchallenges there for you?
Speaker 2 (04:26):
So we actually we did raise angel funding, so we
raised over a million and a halfin funding and we've been very
grateful for the support fromthe government.
Both the NIH and the NAI havesupported us with grants and
we've applied to a variety ofphase two grants which could
lead to multimillion dollarnon-deleted funding.
Some of the greatestbottlenecks and challenges that
(04:50):
we've incurred is reallystarting in a product segment
where there's a lot of otherfolks that existed and, at least
from my perspective, we thoughtthat what we created would have
existed 20 years ago.
So let me back up a little bitand I'll tell you exactly why we
got into it.
With my background being in datascience, my overarching goal
(05:12):
was to really uncover theblueprint for healthcare based
upon the different medications,based upon age, race, disease as
well as chronic care disease,and because of my time spent at
Johnson Johnson, I was able toview firsthand the type of
variations that exist fromprovider to provider, based upon
specialty and patientpopulation.
(05:34):
So I looked into the market andit was trying to determine a
very simple premise Are patientstaking or missing their
medications?
And we came to the conclusionvery quickly that a lot of the
devices in the market could notsolve that very, very simple
question.
So that is exactly why westarted the business so we can
(05:55):
document, dose by dose, what'sgoing on and then alter patients
behaviors so they can live amore productive, healthy life
outside of the hospital.
Vr.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
Okay, amazing and so just maybe a little bit confused
.
How is the product actuallygonna work?
So are people gonna keep theirmedication near the product and
take it like in front of it, oris it gonna administer the
medication?
Can you run me through like theuser side of it?
Speaker 2 (06:25):
Yeah, yeah.
So when you walk up to theHydroDevice, it looks like a
miniaturized R2D2 uvenant.
It'll use face ID or a passcode.
You can unlock it with yourface or, if you remember your
passcode, you can unlock withthe passcode.
It'll dispense the rightmedications at the right time,
the right dosage, the rightfrequency and the right count,
(06:48):
so you, as a patient, no longerhave to remember those complex
prescribing regimens that yourdoctor or doctors have given to
you.
Then you take the medicationsin front of the unit.
We have a video observationrecording to quantify that has
occurred, and that is it on theend user.
(07:11):
So a lot of the lift has reallybeen done by the HydroTeam your
pharmacist, your doctors.
Already All we're doing isensuring that you're following
those complex regimens at homeso you can stabilize your health
and spend time with the mostimportant thing, which is your
family and your loved ones, anddoing the activities that you
(07:31):
love, versus the alternativeswhich many people encounter,
which are the hospitalizationsthat you are, visits and other
forms that people wanna stay outof.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Okay, that's amazing.
And so you mentioned thatpatients with dementia are gonna
be a target user.
So what if they forget to go upto the machine?
Does it send them anotification?
Does it make a noise?
How does it remind them?
Speaker 2 (07:55):
Yeah, this is a great question.
So, as far reaching as thissounds, as crazy as it may sound
, patients with severe cognitiveimpairment, dementia and
Alzheimer's are able to utilizea device without the assistance
of others.
So great question how is thateven possible?
Yeah Right, so there's a systemof ways to alter people's
(08:22):
behaviors, and one it could be anotification on the phone.
If people can't remember, thena notification or text message
could go to their caregiver sothey can remind them.
So now you have a supportnetwork, or imagine, you know, a
flashing light on the device ora sound or perhaps a video
(08:44):
message from a clinician sayinghave you gone and taken your
medications today?
So I think it depends upon thelevel of cognitive impairment
and we have a decision tree inthe background that we are able
to engage them in the process.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
Okay, that's awesome.
And then I imagine that, withthe facial recognition and the
passwords and what have you, ifthey go up and they've forgotten
they've taken their medicine inthe morning, it'll obviously
tell them no, you're all good,you've taken it for the day.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
Yeah.
So imagine for the first timeever, knowing, dose by dose,
whether or not people take theirmedications.
But even more importantly, ifthey've already taken them, then
it'll prompt them.
Congratulations You've takenyour medications for the day.
So we no longer have all ofthose medication errors
happening in the home and thosearen't reported in the first
(09:34):
place.
So it's a way of smoothing outthe process and making things a
lot easier on patients.
We have a lot to manage anyways.
It's just about smoothing thatout for a lot of folks.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
Okay, amazing.
I love this idea, this conceptand your passion behind it.
I can see it's going to be huge, so I'm excited for you.
I'm keen to see where this goes, and I want to go back to the
business side of things.
Where are you at in terms ofgetting to market?
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Yeah, so we are going to contract manufacturing and
scaling now.
We're very, very excited withwhat's happening right now.
We're looking at a couple moreacademic collaborations where
we're looking to improve accessto underserved communities,
minorities as well associoeconomically disadvantaged
folks.
So we have a variety ofdifferent partnerships right now
(10:25):
, and then we're also looking toscale with regional Medicare
Advantage plans in the UnitedStates and as we continue to
grow and more people know aboutwhat is possible to stabilize
these populations, we will scaleup accordingly.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Okay, great, great, and I assume there would have
been like some regulatory orregulations that you'd have to
get approved.
I don't know if it would needto go through the FDA, or what
are the approvals that you'vehad to get, and have you got all
of them necessary?
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Yeah, so there is a framework of regulations and
compliance that are required,and I don't know bore your
audience with all of those, butyes there are.
There are a number of differentFDA regulations that monitors
medical devices, depending uponhow much that where they qualify
or qualify as that.
(11:20):
You have to go through thisprocess, as well as quality
management systems, so there's avariety of things that you have
to continue to update and keepgood compliance standards.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
Okay, awesome.
And have you reached thecurrent level of compliance to
get to market?
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Yes so.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Okay, that's awesome.
I love that, and can you paintme a picture of where you see
the business heading in the next, let's say, one year, three
years, five years and 10 years?
So what is your long-term goal?
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Yeah.
So this is my long-term goal, iswhat I've always dreamed of,
and that's the blueprint forhealth.
If we could quantify, based upondifferent populations and
disease states, the cocktail ofmedications that best serves you
, me, our friends, our family,our neighbors, and quantify
(12:14):
those medications with the bestoutcomes so people can live a
long, healthy, happy life,that's ultimately the goal.
So that's not just the goal forone, three, five.
That's been the entire goal andmission the entire time.
As we scale, we become closerand closer every single day, and
that's what's so exciting isthat we are so close to doing
(12:35):
something that's so remarkableamongst disease states that I
never thought was even possible.
Saying a year ago, if we weretalking, dylan, that we're going
to be on dementia patients, Iwould have thought that you're
crazy and I was crazy that youwould try it, but it's possible.
So maybe we're underestimatingthe power of the human brain and
our own internal bias of whatis possible.
(12:56):
And by having assisted robotics, it can enable people to live
independently on their own,without being dependent on the
40 million caregivers in theUnited States and beyond.
Speaker 1 (13:09):
That's.
It's crazy to think like I'vegot old grandparents.
They still like completelymentally there, but sometimes
they forget, you know, and Iworry about them because they
take a lot of medication and Ithink this is like the typical
use cases for that type ofperson, who otherwise forget
that they've taken it or forgetto take their like important
(13:30):
medication.
So I'm like I'm super excitedto see where this goes.
I'm definitely going to followyour journey after this.
I'm really excited and in likethe super long term, are you
looking to take this and scaleit forever, or do you have a
long term goal of making like abig exit?
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Yeah, so my goal is to impact as many people as
possible.
However, we reach that goal toimpact major populations is what
we'll do.
So in the future, as thingsscale, if it makes sense to
vertically integrate with alarger company or with larger
distribution so we can reach thepeople, to create that
(14:10):
blueprint, then that would bethe decision.
If that's the best course, orif we have a huge raise or
raises of funding to grow thiscompany and organically scale or
purchase other companies, we'llfigure out whatever the best
approach is in order to fulfillthat mission.
Speaker 1 (14:25):
Okay, that's epic, and have there been any
partnerships or collaborationsthat have been effective in
helping you get here?
Like, what does your team looklike?
Speaker 2 (14:38):
Yeah, so the team is a bunch of misfits I would say
Primarily engineers.
So we have a lot of very, verysharp engineers from all of the
world that have joined us at afraction of the cost that their
work worth, because they want tofulfill this mission for the
greater good of humanity, andI'm super grateful and thankful
(15:00):
for the passion that they share,that they want to drive this
mission to reality.
And so our team is primarily,you know, a group of engineer
software developers as well, aswe have partners from, you know,
different mentorships out ofthe house.
You know that range anywherefrom pharma to health payers to
(15:20):
investors.
We've have just a very strongnetwork of advocates behind us
and we'll continue to grow thoserelationships and partnerships
as we move forward.
Speaker 1 (15:31):
Okay, epic, amazing.
And I just want to jump back tothe products quickly, because I
remember, when we were chattingoffline, you mentioned that the
end user will most likely nothave to pay for the unit.
It'll be paid for by theirmedical insurance.
Right, that's correct, yeah, soyeah, patients do not pay.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Yeah, patients do not pay a dime for this.
They pay zero dollars, and thereason behind them not paying
anything is because it smoothsout the delivery of care.
So when you go into a hospitalor you go into a clinic, that's
a sterile environment.
Patients are going toclinicians where they work, but
(16:12):
we've never brought theclinician or the medications
directly to the patient andassisted them in the home, and
we can do that at a fraction ofthe cost.
Therefore, the payers or thehealth plans can pay for it
within all the premiums, becauseit lowers the total cost of
care.
Speaker 1 (16:33):
Yeah, so it might be like a big one-off payment to
roll them out, but in the longterm it's going to save them
tons of money.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Oh yeah yeah.
We've already seen a 70%reduction of the total cost of
care for cardiovascularpopulations and as we scale this
out, you have unit economicsthat really drive costs down
substantially.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
Okay, that's awesome.
Well, look, I'm looking superforward to seeing where this
goes.
I'm definitely going to followyour journey, and we are coming
to the end of the show, butbefore we go, I wanted to ask
what advice would you like togive to other business owners
looking to succeed, firstly inthe healthcare industry and just
in general?
Speaker 2 (17:16):
Yeah.
So the reason why we're in aposition that we are right now
is not because of me, it's notbecause of the vision.
It really comes down to thefolks that are around us.
So I believe very strongly inthe power of your network and we
have some fantastic mentors andinvestors, all sharing the
vision.
But the reason why we're in aposition is because I lean on
(17:39):
them.
You know, when we have ideas orthoughts, I can text message or
I can have a conversation withthem, so it helps guide us along
the right path.
So, as a business owner, you'regoing through a roller coaster
ride and you're trying todetermine.
You know which way to go onthat roller coaster and, as I
see the startup community, it'sreally you're building that
(18:02):
track as you're on that rollercoaster and you're trying to put
it in your way and deviate.
According to me, so having verysuccessful people that can help
support you on your mission aswell as help you see an outside
perspective, I believe ismission critical if you're going
to be successful in execution.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
Yeah, I couldn't agree more and that's actually a
common thought on the podcastis don't be afraid to ask for
help or seek mentorship, andthat's a common thing that
people often overlook.
They think they've got thisidea, their baby, and they can
just jump into it and do itthemselves.
But, like, never be afraid toseek mentorship or ask for other
(18:44):
perspectives, like you said, Ithink that's super important in
building, especially, arevolutionary business.
So, that being said, charles,thank you so much for being on
the show.
I've really enjoyed learningmore about your product and your
business and I'm lookingforward to seeing what the
future holds.
I know it's going to be superbright.
So what is the best way forpeople to reach out to Charles
(19:06):
Gelman?
To follow your journey.
And, yeah, if they want tofollow your journey and see
where it goes.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Yeah, so you know anybody who's listening to this.
Please find me on LinkedIn.
It's Charles Gelman Gelman withtwo L's.
Or you can go to hydrohealthcomand you can see a little bit
more about the product.
We have a lot of videos and wehad a film production crew of
follows for three years.
So those are patienttestimonials, payer testimonies,
as well as more broaderinformation about hydro.
(19:35):
But please connect with me onLinkedIn, you know, join the
network and you can follow ourjourney.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
Okay, amazing.
Well, thanks again, Charles,and if you or any of the
listeners here would like to trythe Magic Mind shot that I
spoke about they're reallyawesome you can visit
wwwmagicmindcom.
Forward slash growing and theremight be a little discount in
there for you.
But thanks again for your time,Charles.
I've really had a great timetoday.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Thank you, dylan, appreciate it Awesome.
Cheers.
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