Imagine walking down the street and collapsing without warning.
Imagine feeling painfully nauseated every time you eat.
Imagine waking up every morning unable to get out of bed.
For those with chronic illnesses – often with illnesses completely invisible on the outside – this is daily life. Chronic illness is a world-wide epidemic. 133 million Americans alone suffer with one or more of them. That is 1 in 3 people, which means they impact each and every one of us in some way or another.
Furthermore, few will ever get 100% relief, but the incurability of the illness is only part of the problem: the other issue is finding a specialist who is both a good fit professionally, and also personally.
In the summer of 2016, Wellacopia was conceived to address the epidemic of chronic illness in a way that has never been done before – by matching those who seek wellness and relief with those who provide solutions specific to them as individuals, and not just their diagnoses. Wellacopia helps to close the communication gap between patients and specialists in a way that fully embraces the technology available today.
Currently, there are medications, community groups, healthcare facilities, and other forms of support for these individuals; but even so, it is evident that one problem persists for the majority of those who are burdened with chronic illness: the "pain point" of not being able to find care specific to them medically, or a good fit for them personally. That "good fit" they're looking for? It's a relationship – a concept lacking in the healthcare industry between patients and practitioners of any kind.
The sheer effort, time, emotional hardship and money spent on trying to find the right health specialist is enough to make many who suffer with chronic illness give up. I should know - I have fibromyalgia, IBD and hypermobility syndrome, and those struggles have led to countless cycles of attempts at finding the right care. It has become abundantly clear that I am not alone in my cyclical efforts.
I realized I needed to come up with an efficient, easy-to-navigate system to assist others like myself to find an appropriate fit. Since this didn't exist, my partner and I decided to create one. We based our creation on an already proven system of matching – online dating!
By matching specific criteria including approach to care, personality tests, personal preferences, medical needs, history and several other key patient/professional dynamic preferences, Wellacopia aims to bridge the gap in communication and personalization so that both patients and specialists get the most out of every appointment and see better outcomes. Specialists benefit, too: they enjoy a new pipeline of well-matched patients and can replace any feelings of futility with outcomes about which they can be proud (not to mention new and more successful clients).
Wellacopia is taking on the lofty overall mission of bringing a sense of relatedness to the healthcare community in order to produce better healthcare relationships and results. The lack of proper personalization and communication that both patients and practitioners experience is a massive problem that we aim to transform. We would be honored if you would join our mission as movers and shakers in this industry, which clearly needs some shaking up!