IOWA CITY, Iowa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The founders of emerging health IT start-up HealthTech Solutions (HTS) have been recognized by Forbes Magazine in its prestigious 2018 30 Under 30 program. The overall program, in its seventh year, honored only 600 individuals out of over 15,000 nominations, an acceptance rate of roughly 4 percent.
Co-founders Dalton Shaull and Eric Pahl were included in the 2018 program’s healthcare category for their efforts with HTS and its first product, TXP ChatTM, a secure app designed to facilitate efficient and streamlined communication between organ procurement centers, organ transplant centers and clinicians and coordinators.
“We are truly honored to be amongst this incredible group of visionaries,” said Shaull. “Just over 4 years ago I was lying in a hospital bed, lucky to be alive, asking myself what I was going to do with my life.” Shaull, a former football player at the University of Iowa, had a near-fatal motorcycle accident that ignited his passion for the field of organ and tissue transplantation. “It was a real challenge, spiritually, physically and emotionally. I went from a Division-1 athlete to relying on a nurse to feed me, dress me, bathe me… It was the most humbling experience of my life.” One of the most debilitating of his myriad of injuries was nerve damage that resulted in paralysis of his right arm. “Fortunately, I was a candidate for an experimental nerve transplant. Four months after the transplant, I began to get twitches and sensation back in my arm, and the recovery since then has been remarkable. This experience has served as the source of my passion, and as a transplant recipient myself, I am determined to advance the industry and recreate that miracle for as many people as possible.”
Co-founder, Eric Pahl, Ph.D. (c) in Health Informatics at the University of Iowa has three aunts battling liver failure who are candidates for liver transplants and shares Shaull’s passion given this powerful, connected purpose. “When I met Dalton, I had been working on machine-learning technology to improve the organ allocation process, and with Dalton’s passion and my aligned interests - both personal and professional - HealthTech Solutions was born.”
Forbes describes the program as such: “The 2018 FORBES 30 Under 30 -- 30 game changers in 20 industries all under 30 years old -- is the most definitive gathering of today's leading young change-makers and innovators in the U.S. Selecting these youthful visionaries is a year-round obsession. Now in our seventh year, with an alumni network closing in on 5,000 that spans the globe, this list continues to spotlight the impressive, the inspiring and the (genuinely) enviable."
Organ transplant is a complicated, time-sensitive process that relies on numerous phone calls and faxes per donated organ. This inefficient communication contributes to over 50 percent of available organs being wasted when a significant portion could be transplanted; meanwhile, 22 patients die each day in the US waiting for a life-saving organ, over 120,000 people continue to wait for a major organ transplant, and the average wait time is over five years.
HealthTech Solutions, Inc. is a secure communications technology provider focused initially on providing solutions in organ transplantation. The company’s first product, TXP ChatTM, connects Organ Transplant Centers, Organ Procurement Organizations and Clinicians and Coordinators through a secure HIPAA-compliant mobile messaging and workflow app to simplify real-time clinical communication and coordination when time matters.
