Black tech entrepreneurs are transforming how patients receive medical care and addressing the health equity gap along the way.
Around 20% of Black adults are in fair or poor health in comparison to a little over 14% of white adults, according to the CDC.
These five tech companies, headed by Black innovators, are improving health care options for Black patients and bringing quality care to communities of color.
Health in Her Hue
Health in Her Hue, a platform created by entrepreneur Ashlee Wisdom, helps Black women and women of color connect with the culturally competent healthcare professionals best suited to care for them.
“The last thing you want to do when you go into the doctor’s office is feel like you have to put on an armor and feel like you have to fight the person or, like, you know, be at odds with the person who’s supposed to be helping you on your health journey,” Wisdom told NPR. “And that’s oftentimes the position that Black people, and largely also Black women, are having to deal with as they’re navigating health care.”
The Health in Her Hue app, available on the App Store and Google Play, offers health and wellness content and community to empower Black women and women of color.
Empathy
Empathy supports home health agencies by enhancing and streamlining administrative and care delivery tasks through a mobile application.
The company, founded by Keziah Njuguna, equips home health agencies of all sizes with the technology to easily send invoices, schedule appointments, bill clients and fill out medical documents.
“I see Empathy as a vehicle for women’s empowerment in business ownership and especially for women of color like myself who have benefited from this industry,” said Njuguna in an interview with SHOPPE BLACK. “I also see Empathy algorithm as a healthcare tech company that can simultaneously address some of the issues in the eldercare industry.”
MedHaul
MedHaul, founded by Mississippi-native Erica Plybeah, ensures that patients are able to attend their medical appointments by arranging round-trip transportation with safety and inclusivity in mind.
The company focuses on making transportation accessible to low-income people in rural regions. These factors that limit access to transportation disproportionately affect communities of color, according to NPR.
Plybeah envisions that MedHaul will eventually branch out to include transportation to everyday tasks like picking up prescriptions at the pharmacy, grocery shopping and going to the gym, the founder told NPR.
Shine
Shine, a daily self-care app, is designed to help users find calm and eliminate stress through motivational messages, meditation sessions and journaling.
“We started Shine because we didn’t see ourselves—a Black woman and a half-Japanese woman—and our experiences represented in mainstream ‘wellness,’” according to Shine’s website. “Our bodies, our skin color, our financial access, our past traumas—it all often felt otherized.”
The mental health-focused app is available on the App Store and Google Play.
