THE OUIUM STORY

I'm Garee Brackett and I've been working with computers and networks from about the age of 8.

 

Many years of corporate experience along with formal education, and self-teaching allowed me to develop and run a successful IT consulting company for 25 years in Seattle.

 

I am a Partner/IT Architect in a data analytics technology startup originally called SolCharge, LLC and now a new data analytics company known as LTAnalytics.io with my college friend Richard.

 

Last, but not least, I am the founder of Ouium, Inc.  I have my sister who is in the medical field on board with this project and my team consists of Jill (Operations Management) Cheryl (Accounting) and Kevin (Director PR/Media/Web/Social).

 

Ouium (means caretaker in Latin) is pronounced (wee-yum) is a startup specializing in a digital patient engagement platform technology that focuses on the prevention of repeat hospital visits. Supplying a digital patient engagement solution to healthcare providers allows for better patient outcomes from counsel to intake to procedure to aftercare and follow-up.

 

We look to help close the gap in the "medical deserts" of rural and under-served minority areas as well. We look to do this by providing a means for local clinics & doctors to partner with larger hospital organizations, universities and seamlessly supply access to resources that the institutions in larger markets have. 

 

Via telehealth functions, we can help decrease visits to the hospitals and clinics for issues that could be diagnosed and managed remotely via a suite of high-precision mobile medical devices that are currently on the market.

 

The idea came from a visit back to my hometown of Mobile, Alabama to visit family in the later part of 2011. My maternal grandmother was battling cancer and had a 3'x3' coffee table that was full of medications that she needed to take. 

 

I thought to myself; How does one manage that amount of information while battling cancer? How does one stay on top of any complex medical or physical regimen for treatment? 

 

What if the patient has dementia and the caretaker or family member needs to stay on top of the protocol for them?  What happens when you get discharged? You get a sheet of paper with instructions that are lost, chewed up by the dog, coffee spilled on it, etc... 

 

Surely, there is a better way to manage patient care.

 

The answer then hit me after looking at the existing applications like EPIC and others that give you basic access. All the protocols and information that is provided by the medical provider can be accessed digitally; especially since we are living in the age of the smartphone.; that was 2011 and I sat on that idea until 2017 as I was busy with life and other ventures.

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My grandmother Lola Allen died in February 2012. Developing a mobile application that helped manage your medication and care protocols for compliance and integrated into multiple EHR systems could touch millions of busy and overwhelmed families with medical needs. This is an excellent way of honoring my grandmother's spirit.

 

Now here we are in 2022 and I have expanded on this idea with many more features for patients and providers.

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This is my grandmother Lola Allen and myself in late 2011; she is the inspiration behind this idea.