hPass

Infections are the 3rd leading cause of death in the U.S. totaling over 215,000 deaths in the U.S. alone, even before the current COVID-19 pandemic. Yet infections and disease control processes are still broadly conducted manually in an analog, outdated and inefficient practices. hPass develops an app that streamlines infections and disease control policies, making it easier, faster, and cheaper to deploy across businesses. Our tool increases the efficiency of current healthcare disease control practices following the current crisis. hPass is a technology platform developed by doctors, researchers, graduate students at MIT and Harvard. hPass focuses on simplicity, scalability, usability, reliability, and privacy: hPass has a unique network effect: Our features make hPass accessible to enter an ER as well as a gym or a restaurant. We ensure safety, supporting incremental recovery, and using anonymous data which can enable early detection and containment as well as dynamic policy adjustments. 

In essence, hPass answers the problem of inefficient infections and disease control screening. Our goal is to empower the workforce, flatten the curve, prevent community transmission, enable work and supporting livelihoods, and maintain readiness for potential surges. hPass is protects employees and the public while instilling confidence in health and economic activity. We are currently targeting three main verticals: healthcare facilities, assisted living facilities and small businesses. hPass can help prevent, initiate rapid response, and mitigate future disease outbreaks.  hPass is free and takes hospital level infection control policies, builds upon them, and applies them to any institution who opts-in. At a time when 8 in 10 would wait to resume activities after government lifts coronavirus restrictions, and 60% percent of American consumers are now “fearful” to shop at a grocery store due to the coronavirus (https://www.crresearch.com/coronavirus-shopping-habits)(https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/492639-8-in-10-would-wait-to-resume-activities-after-government-lifts-restrictions), hPass can give back the confidence we need to restart global commerce. Our priority is on safety and privacy.  As an independent third-party, data is secure and protected.  

hPass is a tool for public safety and infection control.  For businesses, organizations, and municipalities that wish to re-open post-COVID-19, hPass is a simple elegant app that can manage the access to venues based on COVID-19 testing results and personal health data that forms an individualized health risk determination based on CDC and WHO guidelines.  hPass is a free, software-only solution, it can be deployed within hours in a given geography. 

Our app is designed to assist vulnerable communities and achieve lasting impact while boosting the economy. To this end, we initially reached out to three key partners: assisted living facilities, healthcare facilities and small businesses. We identified these three core venues as the most prone infectious diseases breakouts during these turbulent times. With the uncertainty and lack of innovation in the infections and disease control industry, hPass sets a first of its kind example: to digitize an industry ripe for rapid and effective solutions. User data never leaves the user's mobile device. Privacy-preserving technology and zero identifiable data on the cloud. Every decision is transparent and explainable.

The hPass solution servers the general public of the global workforce and the global economy.  Our first goal is to focus on high-risk health care facilities such as nursing homes and assisted living facilities.  We can then broaden our aim to help communities, business, and institutions around the world prepare for re-opening, detect early clusters, and respond to the emerging Covid-19 pandemic by improving health security.   hPass is planned to be translated to all languages as needed.  The hPass master user for each site is able to customize settings based on their own unique needed, and our team is here to help build any additional functionality needed.  Our success team will make sure to be there and help users throughout the deployment. hPass has near endless scalability, and as it scales it can act to exponentially increase protection to global public health.   In today’s tech world, privacy is a major concern, and as hPass is an independent third-party, user data is protected.  User data never leaves the user's mobile device. Privacy-preserving technology and zero identifiable data on the cloud. Every decision is transparent and explainable.  

The hPass solution and target population relate to the Challenge’s core mission by helping the public in both near term, and prevention future outbreaks. hPass provides a solution for prevention, rapid response, and supports and protects health workers and facility staff. Our technology incorporates De-identified data could detect an emerging outbreak with data analysis data that informs policy. The infrastructure of hPass allows us to be prepared for the next pandemic. hPass works on the basis of preventative and mitigation measures, enhanced disease surveillance systems, and improve healthcare/consumer supply chains by deploying to manufacturing facilities (ie the American meat industry).

hPass is an innovative and disruptive tool for an industry that significantly lacks efficient solutions. With a simple and elegant tool that takes hospital-level infection control policies, hPass builds upon the most strict and up-to-date guidelines, that save essential time and resources to achieve better results for essential workers and affiliates. Furthermore, hPass leverages network effects – the digitalization of infection control screening data creates interoperability between different industries. The same hPass app can be used to enter multiple facilities with a click of a button. The more users using hPass, the more businesses gain value from deploying hPass. The more businesses deploy hPass the greater the value for individual users to download hPass.

Thus far, the process of infections and disease control screening is done in an analog and arbitrary way, with valuable lost data and a loosely coordinated system. hPass is the only solution with no COGS and can be deployed easily and can be infinitely scaled, while most of the players in the ecosystem have high operational expenses. Moreover, we are the only tool in the industry that does not save user data in an identifiable manner, creating new standards for privacy in the Health-tech ecosystem, allowing us partnerships with many organizations. 

hPass is a free for users and small businesses app-based software-only solution, it can be deployed within hours in each geography. Along the model of Ez-Pass or Credit Karma, hPass allows implementation of infection control for private/public spaces to bring hospital screening level infection control to any facilities interested that also incorporates testing results and health data. As an independent third-party, data is secure and protected. Privacy-preserving technology and zero identifiable data on the cloud. Every decision is transparent and explainable. 

hPass launched only three months ago and is already piloting in 12 diverse venues in the U.S. hPass allows implementation of infection control policy for private/public spaces to bring high level infection control to any facilities interested that also incorporates testing results and health data with the additional protection of aggregate data and cluster identification. Our platform enable businesses, employees, and customers to self-check possible symptoms and to bring back their confidence in engaging with economic activities based on the most updated CDC guidelines that illustrates the hPass implementation in other words. Our app is designed to maintain the privacy and data of our users. 

hPass theory of change is to make an impact beyond Covid-19. Our app digitalizes the entire vaccine notebook, from flu to other vaccines and infectious disease tests. In the long term, our vision is to digitalize infection control, helping to fight annual outbreaks of Measles and flu and help individuals track their personal health status.

The hPass impact in the long-term will be a world where people can navigate in a safe and free manner between their daily activities, carefree from the potential risk in getting sick, and without compromising on their privacy. With our unique tool for public safety, hPass will empower its users to take care of their own health. Our goal is to protect users and increase immediate public health for healthcare staff, small businesses employees, public institutions, and large corporations. Our immediate impact will affect the transition for businesses as they reopen and to help local economic recovery. Once taken beyond the healthcare setting, hPass impact has endless scalability, and as it scales, it can act to exponentially increase protection to global public health. We postulate the hPass effect will be to re-instill confidence in health and economic activity locally and globally.

hPass launched only three months ago and is already piloting with 12 venues: assisting living facilities, gyms, and restaurants, yielding over 250 users. The hPass app is free to download on Google Play and on the App Store (see links below). We are constantly increasing our partners pipeline with over 100 customer venues that have already indicated interest to join hPass. 

 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thehpass.app and App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hpass-check-in/id1516964900

We aim to reach thousands of users by the end of the year, with multiple partnerships with assisting living facilities. In the first six months of 2021 we hope to reach additional assisting living facilities: rehab centers, hospitals, and nursing homes. Our goal is to reach over one million users between 2021-2022. In the next five years hPass will be the go-to and most prevalent tool in infections and diseases screening around the world. 

Given the urgency of the global Covid-19 pandemic, our largest barrier is number of developers currently working in our team. We are running against the time with increasing need from the market. We hope to be available to the healthcare sector and public within weeks. Our goal is to be in time to help the public health and economic recovery.  We require the financial backing to engage the hPass startup with technical and legal barriers.  We require funding for translation to universal languages and adoption accounting for cultural differences.

hPass plans on overcoming these barriers swiftly using our institutional network of Harvard and MIT, as well as personal contacts by our team of doctors, researchers, and graduate students. We are currently facing an increase number of businesses hoping to collaborate with us and are ready to deploy. We hope that by continuing building these partnerships and securing a paying customer by the end of the summer, we will be able to grow our technical team.

hPass has 8 core team members

The team brings together over 50 years of experience from the technology, medicine, and policy fields. Dr. Raphael Yahalom, is a Research Affiliate at MIT Sloan School of Management and focuses on emerging solutions that will reshape the future of cyber-security. Rafi was the Cofounder, Chief Scientist & VP of Customers Success of Onaro (acquired by NetApp for $125M). He met Eyal Perry, an experienced AI engineer and a Graduate Researcher at the MIT Media Lab. Rafi and Eyal started a conversation with Shai Kivity, then a Talpiot Graduate who holds a dual degree MBA from Wharton and an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School. Shai brings affluent experience developing and executing complex technological projects for the Israel Defense Forces and later on in tech investments and management consulting at McKinsey & Company. The puzzle would not have been complete without Dr. Michael Sherman, MD, an emergency medicine physician and a critical care fellow at Brigham and Women's Hospital with public health expertise. The core team has known each other for years as colleges and friends. later hPass added four new members: Daria Schitrit is a public policy professional from Columbia University; Nataly Ben Ari, an experienced designer and Or Khafi and Guy Michael, two talented frontend and backend developers, previously worked in Israel’s most cutting-edge startups. Together, the team create an ensemble of diverse skill set and experience. hPass is a tool that requires deep technological knowledge, medical and public health experience, and a keen understanding in business and strategy.

We are a group of doctors, researchers, graduate students at MIT, Harvard and Colubia. We are partnering with local assisted living facilities, gyms, restaurants, summer camps, commercial real estate buildings and other venues. We are also in conversations with public institutions such as the Massachusetts DPH, CDC, BIDs in Massachusetts and New York, Business Associations and Civil Society Organizations.  

hPass is a free application for small businesses with less than 20 employees, as part of our social mission. For businesses with over than 20 employees we are exploring different pricing mechanisms, based on a per employee per year fees. Our envisioned business model is along the lines of Credit Karma and Ez-Pass. This freedom of implementation of the hPass mission to bring infection control policy for private/public spaces to bring high level infection control to any facilities interested that also incorporates testing results and health data with the additional protection of aggregate data and cluster identification. 

hPass will reach financial stability from the fee charged by medium sized businesses and enterprises. By keeping employees healthy, hPass is saving money for employers. As we explore the different revenue options, hPass will be funded through combination of sustained donations interested in the public health and economic recovery, grants, selling products or services, raising investment capital, and a combination of all.  Eventually we plan to move along the lines of of Credit Karma and Ez-Pass. As this kind of commission based model, we will not sell user data to third parties.  Beyond the initial pilot, we plan on expanding into telehealth and providing help and guidance in the new post-pandemic world.

Solve is the catalyst that can help hPass with its mission to improve the public health and economic recovery.  We hope for access to the MIT network, and support from Solve staff.  It is only with these connections, that hPass can build the partnerships needed to scale our solution and make the impact we hope for.

hPass hopes to have our pilot out this week, and given the global need we see we hope to bring hPass to the public as soon as possible to support the public health and economic recovery.

hPass is a technology platform developed by doctors, researchers, graduate students at MIT and Harvard.  We have a proven record of innovation, social responsibility, and entrepreneurship. We are dedicated to improving public health and impacting social change.

Personally, as a physician who has worked in the Emergency Department and ICU during the Covid-19 pandemic, I believe this work is desperately needed.  Moreover, as citizen and expectant father, I believe that hPass is the tool we need to protect the public and stimulate economic recovery.