Jon Rathauser
What were you involved in previous to joining Keheala?
Before founding Keheala, I worked for Deloitte Analytics helping to address healthcare clients’ toughest business challenges. Prior to healthcare, I pursued my interests in renewable energy, performing solar development, financing and R&D in Toronto and later at the Weizmann Institute of Science. I earned my MBA from the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, and a Bachelors of Science Degree in the Ecological Determinants of Health from McGill University.
Why did you decide to found Keheala?
Many diseases today have effective treatments, which are accessible and sometimes free for patients. Despite this reality, millions of people die, and many more suffer, from these same diseases. While others believe the solution requires new easy-to-use drugs with shorter treatment duration or new vaccines, Keheala was borne from the recognition that the drugs we have today work, we just need to do a better job understanding the user, or patient. By walking in the shoes of our patients, Keheala first understands their psycho-social needs and then empowers the patient’s participation with powerful social science interventions. This is a major paradigm shift away from current models of care delivery.
By making small changes to the decision-making environment, Keheala can inexpensively improve health outcomes without new drugs or vaccines. The fact that our platform works on basic feature and smartphones means the vast majority of individuals around the world can benefit today!
Where do you see Keheala going in the future?
In the future, we will continue to leverage our behavioral expertise as we seek to address the toughest health challenges around the world. Additionally, we’re leveraging the power of data to differentiate-care, predict disease outbreaks and enable ‘personalized public health.’