When Buoy Health launched in 2014, its creators hoped that the AI-powered digital tool would help users check symptoms and find the best, most appropriate care.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, Buoy’s team sprinted for 11 days to update the tech to understand the CDC’s coronavirus guidelines and help those experiencing symptoms know when to be tested. But with tests in short supply, users struggled to even find tests. That send the team into overdrive.
“In Massachusetts, there was no single data source to find out where tests were available,” says co-founder and CEO Andrew Le of Buoy’s home state. “We figured, why not call every testing site every few hours and centralize that data?” Massachusetts was onboard, but left it up to Le to
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“So many restaurant workers in our community had been furloughed or laid off,” he says. “That’s a very well-trained population in the hospitality sector — so we
That moment of inspiration led to massive data collection, and is indicative of Le’s dedication to tech-driven care.
“Digital healthcare was perfectly set up to solve for the issues of the pandemic,” Le says. “It forced adoption, and now there’s no going back.”
