"Data" may well be the buzzword of the early 21st century, but the health field is still trying to figure out how to use it. From claims data to wearables and EHRs, physicians are struggling to incorporate it into practice. This has led to the rise of tech startups looking to tackle this very issue. 

“Data is king. The more data we have, the more precise we can be,” Lori Evans Bernstein, cofounder, president and COO at HealthReveal, told MobiHealthNews.

Bernstein has a long history of working in health IT, previously serving as the CEO of ActiveHealth Provider and as deputy commissioner of the New York State Department of Health. 

But in 2015 she decided to look to the startup world, teaming up with Dr. Lonny Reisman, former chief medical officer of Aetna, to start a company dubbed HealthReveal. The startup uses remote monitoring and data analytics to help payers and providers make sure patients get the treatments that line up with evidentiary guidelines.

“I would say that the inspiration was a combination of both of our collective experiences in trying to drive change through the use of information and advanced technology,” she said. “We both have had a passion for clinical decision support, and I think we’ve had attraction to that because we are inspired by and want everyone to receive the best care possible, and the care we would expect for our families. In the digital era, the amount of health information that is in digital … made it [ripe] to launch HealthReveal with the mission of supporting decision making and being able to ensure that as many people as possible get the most effective care possible.”

Currently, the company is working with a variety of stakeholders, including health systems, insurers and employers. From fairly early on in the company, the pair decided to focus on chronic care. 

“I think we decided to focus on chronic disease given the big opportunity — 90% of healthcare costs resulting from the consequence of chronic disease, stroke, blindness, amputation," she said. "Furthermore, and less well known, is that people with chronic disease more than half the time don’t get care consistent with the best medical evidence.”

Since its founding, the company has been raking in capital and growing. In 2017, the company scored $10.8 million in a funding round led by GE Ventures.  

While Bernstein’s company has been met with success among investors, female entrepreneurs are still underrepresented in digital health. Bernstein has some tips for other women looking to follow in her footsteps. 

“I think [of] three things that have made an impact on my career, especially when I think about other women in health IT,” she said. “[First], I’ve always focused on getting the job done; getting the job done well; and standing up to the status quo, and asking the hard questions and being brave.”

She noted that bravery has helped her with her resiliency. The second piece of advice was to read.  

“There is so much inspiration from the career and life of women in history,” she said. “Whether it is entrepreneurship or activism or leadership ... reading about that is such a source of motivation and inspiration for me, and I think it is for many people.”

Her last piece of advice was to help women who are coming up in the field. 

“Do your part as a mentor to young women and to really go the extra mile and do the things that support entrepreneurship and leadership and growth of young women.”