Amie Cares, your friend in health

Amie Health is a digital health platform for patients with complex chronic conditions, starting with endometriosis. Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory disorder where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows in other areas of the body where it doesn’t belong. Symptoms include painful periods, heavy bleeding, painful intercourse, abdominal pain, painful urination, infertility, fatigue, bloating, constipation, and nausea.

Endometriosis is a silent epidemic that is highly stigmatized and has minimal research funding. 1/10 or 176 million women globally have endometriosis, but it takes an average of 10 years and 8 doctors to get diagnosed. Endometriosis creates an estimated $69.4 B annual disease burden in the United States alone.

Few doctors understand endometriosis, resulting in few patients receiving the standard of care and many left undiagnosed. “63% of general practitioners feel uncomfortable diagnosing & treating patients with endometriosis, 50% are unfamiliar with the 3 main symptoms of the disease.” — American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, 2017

For patients, endometriosis takes a significant toll on nearly every aspect of their life - work, school, relationships, sex, and more. Quality of life often decreases due to depression, anxiety, infertility, pain, and other symptoms. The average patient loses 10.8 hours / week in productivity due to their condition and some might be unable to work at all. 

Due to the stigma, most women suffer silently. For example, Marilyn Monroe silently battled endometriosis and “the condition was so severe that it destroyed her marriages, her wish for children, her career and ultimately her life. In days before effective conservative surgery or effective medical therapies, it led to progressively increasing use of strong analgesics, tranquilisers and hypnotics – and drug dependency.” (The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe). The devastating and debilitating impact of endometriosis is felt by the millions of patients who experience it globally.

Our company is called Amie, the french word for “friend”, because our mobile app is a friend in the pocket of patients with chronic diseases. We provide everything patients and doctors need to manage endometriosis, all in one place, including: 

• 12-week course to walk patients through the basics of endometriosis management

• Personalized symptom tracking & analytics

• Support group with other endometriosis patients

• Endometriosis-specialized nutritionists, therapists & health coaches

• AI chatbot for support during flare ups

• Accessible educational resources always within reach

Our product involves multiple stakeholders including patients and providers. Endometriosis patients are the end-users. Our goal is to reach patients as soon as possible after they are diagnosed or before diagnosis when they have suspected endometriosis. Instead of being overwhelmed and confused, patients will have access to resources to guide them towards evidence-based solutions and a support system to help them along the way.

Providers recommend the app to patients and provide on-going medical care via telehealth. Most endometriosis diagnoses are made by an OBGYN or primary care practitioners. However, since few doctors are specialized in endometriosis, many fail to administer the appropriate standard of care or provide the patient with needed information. Our mobile app can help bridge this knowledge gap and ensure that all patients with diagnosis have access to information about their condition. We also work with endometriosis surgeons who treat and diagnose patients with laparoscopic surgeries. By having providers recommend our app the day the patient is diagnosed, we can create a seamless patient care experience.

This company was inspired by Margaret’s personal health experiences including delays in diagnosis, medical gaslighting, lack of treatments, and difficulty navigating care. As a patient with suspected endometriosis, she has spent years trying to find care providers and navigate treatment options. While completing a MBA in 2021, Margaret was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease. The diagnosis came initially as a relief because it provided answers to decades of pain. However, taking on the daily management of a chronic condition is incredibly difficult and overwhelming to do alone. As a result of her diagnosis, she faced numerous physical, mental, and social challenges. 

All founders also have personal experiences managing chronic health conditions and are committed to supporting other chronic disease patients. We understand how it feels to be sick and know you will never fully be better. We deeply believe in and practice principles of human centered design - taking time each week to interview patients with endometriosis and endometriosis providers to understand their experiences. 

Margaret (CEO) worked for USAID in their Global Health Center for Innovation & Impact. Previously, she launched a medical device company designing an affordable neonatal ventilator for low and middle income countries. She has also worked in impact investing and management consulting. She has an MBA from INSEAD.

Chris (CTO) is a full stack machine learning engineer who is passionate about using AI and machine learning to improve healthcare. Previously, he worked in predictive health analytics at Owlet Baby Care (IPO in 2021) and as a software engineer at T.D. Williamson. He has a Masters in Computer Science from BYU.

Kade Kovach (Clinical Manager) has a Master’s in Public Health and extensive experience in clinical studies and preventative health education. She is currently completing her Physician’s Assistant degree at Texas Tech.

Our aim is to provide our product for people all over the world who are suffering from chronic conditions and feeling alone. We hope to use the Challenge to connect with seed investors who support our vision and can provide the capital needed to scale. Our company aligns with Horizon’s mission because endometriosis is a severe inflammatory condition and we are expanding next into autoimmune diseases. 

Our company is woman-owned and all members of our founding team have a chronic health condition. We chose to hire a Ukrainian UX/UI design team in response to the current crisis in Ukraine. 

We are dedicated to building a diverse team and creating a sense of belonging for every employee. When hiring, all applicants will be considered for employment regardless of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, marital, or disability status. 

Our product uses gender-neutral language to be inclusive of all endometriosis patients including non-binary and transgender patients. The imagery on our product represents a wide range of ages, races, and body shapes. 

Our team received a $25,000 grant from Texas Tech University and are currently participating in their year-long accelerator program. Founders have also contributed their own time and resources to build the mobile app.