Miami-based Papa, which is known for its “grandkids-on-demand” service, is rolling out a new virtual care platform known as “Papa Health.”
At the moment, Miami-based Papa is a membership-based platform that mostly connects college students — aka “Papa Pals” — and older adults, with the goal to provide companionship and general assistance such as transportation services and similar task-based help to seniors.
With the launch of Papa Health, the company expands its services to include health management. This means virtual primary care, urgent care and chronic care management through the Papa platform.
Why does it matter?
The new services are building on and enhancing Papa’s current capabilities, enabling the company to offer a mix of social and clinical services to address the holistic needs of its members.
Through Papa Health, members will be able to connect virtually with “Papa Docs” for appointments. These Papa Docs are board-certified and licensed clinicians that include MDs, nurse practitioners and behavioral health providers, put together by Papa’s chief medical officer, Dr. Ford Brewer.
Papa Docs can, for example, provide care plans or prescribe medicine. Papa Pals on their end will also participate by helping navigate appointments, providing transportation or helping with care facilitation.
On the record
“Papa historically has provided — and still very much so does, as our core products — companionship and support to older adults and families through health plans,” said Papa founder and CEO Andrew Parker. “With Papa Health, we’re now able to continue our mission of supporting older adults and families throughout the aging journey, by not only providing them curated companionship but also curated care.”
The context
Over the past few years, Papa has raised more than $31 million in funding from companies like Magnify Ventures, Canaan Partners, Initialized Capital and Comcast. It has also formed partnerships with health sector giants, such as Humana and Aetna. It plans to be in all 50 states by January 2021.
For more information on senior care technologies and companies, we suggest you check out our Senior Care 2.0 report.