Working to reform a health system that “leaves the lonely behind”
Contact:
Matt Russell
Russell Public Communications
(520) 232-9840
[email protected]
Tucson, AZ (September 2, 2020) — Pyx Health, a health care IT company targeting the surging loneliness and social isolation epidemic, announced that it is joining the Coalition to End Social Isolation & Loneliness to address this public health challenge through public awareness, public policy, and research. As a Steering Committee member, Pyx Health founder and CEO Cindy Jordan will help set the group’s priorities, goals, agenda, and overall direction.
Based in Washington, D.C., the Coalition works with a diverse national membership, including consumer groups, patient advocacy organizations, health plans, community-based organizations, mental and behavioral health advocates, and private sector innovators to advance programs and policies that improve social connectedness for all Americans. The group brings together organizations such as Uber Health, the National Coalition on Aging, and Humana.
“We are thrilled to be joining forces with the Coalition to advance our shared agenda and address the ravages of loneliness, as well as the long-lasting effects that COVID-19 will leave in its wake,” said Jordan. “The Coalition’s members are among the nation’s leading voices in health care today, pursuing real reform of a system that all too often leaves the lonely behind. Pyx Health is determined to address this crisis with our Coalition colleagues.”
Coalition Founder and Co-Director Andrew MacPherson said, “It is an honor to have Pyx Health join our effort to combat the adverse consequences of loneliness and social isolation. Considering the toll that loneliness takes on individuals’ physical and mental health, as well as the substantial costs that it adds to an overly burdened healthcare system, nothing short of a fundamental recast of the prevention and treatment conversation is required.”
Pyx Health’s mobile platform features an entertaining, empathetic chatbot named Pyxir that provides 24/7 companionship, support and self-management tips, while facilitating regular loneliness and social determinants of health (SDOH) screenings. When the program identifies urgent needs, Pyx Health offers access to resources such as food, transportation and a nurse hotline, all reinforced with human contact via the company’s compassionate call center.
For more information about Pyx Health, visit www.pyxhealth.com.
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Pyx Health is the first loneliness and social isolation technology-driven company focused on helping the most vulnerable populations. Combining an artificial intelligence-supported mobile platform with human intervention via a compassionate call center, Pyx Health offers patients and health care systems an innovative, scalable solution for this costly and rapidly growing public health epidemic. Research shows that loneliness increases mortality rates by 26 percent, with the mortality risk for seniors increasing to 45 percent. Annual patient treatment costs for loneliness are greater than for chronic conditions such as arthritis and diabetes, and an individual with loneliness is at higher risk for heart disease, obesity, depression and cognitive decline. Health care systems contract with Pyx Health due to evidence that its unique service lowers Medicaid and Medicare inpatient costs by 36 percent. To learn more, visit Pyx Health at www.pyxhealth.com, Facebook, Twitter or YouTube.