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From closing gaps in sleep medicine to making surrogacy more accessible and advancing light-based therapies, some healthcare entrepreneurs are challenging conventional models to put patients first.
Healthcare leaders today are challenging a system often characterized by fragmented services, high costs, and limited access. Across sleep medicine, fertility, and therapeutic innovation, a new generation of companies is showing how patient outcomes can improve by shifting the focus from institutional structures to individual needs. Through different approaches, three founders are addressing longstanding gaps in care, expanding access, and rethinking the patient experience.
Addressing the Shortage in Sleep Care
The shortage of sleep medicine specialists in the United States has left millions of people struggling with undiagnosed or inadequately treated sleep disorders. With the country producing only 150–200 sleep medicine physicians annually, access remains a significant challenge.
SLIIIP, a virtual sleep care practice operating across all 50 states, was established to address this gap. Its model brings consultations, diagnostic testing, and therapy together under one provider, reducing the fragmentation and delays associated with traditional sleep care. Patients remain under the care of the same board-certified physician throughout their treatment journey, creating continuity and accountability.
Founder Avinesh Bhar believes the shortage reflects a broader industry problem.
“The US produces about 150 to 200 sleep doctors a year, which is grossly underserving the needs of patients throughout the country.”
He also points to the disconnect in conventional services.
“Right now, the sleep industry is so fragmented that the doctors are not the ones doing the testing and the testing people are not the one doing the therapy. And so the patients get lost in the middle of all of this.”
For Bhar, improving access also means encouraging people to seek help sooner.
“If you keep the process smooth and you allow patients to access care easily without adding these barriers to entry, you allow patients the ability to seek care kind of earlier in their life’s journey, because you’re not setting up this barrier.”
While SLIIIP addresses gaps in specialist access, another healthcare venture tackles the financial obstacles around family-building.
Making Surrogacy More Accessible
For many intended parents, the cost of surrogacy remains a significant obstacle. Traditional agency coordination fees often range from $30,000 to $60,000, which can put the journey out of reach for families who want to pursue it.
Pineapple Family, a direct-matching technology platform, seeks to change this model by allowing intended parents and surrogates to work directly with the professionals involved in the process. Its Journey Doula system provides structured guidance through each milestone, from pre-contract arrangements to birth. A vetted provider directory further connects participants with professionals who support safe surrogacy.
Co-Founder and CEO Daniel Malak identifies agency fees as a major barrier.
“That coordination layer that surrogacy agencies charge is on average between $30,000 and $60,000 or more, and that agency fee could really tip the scales as to whether or not somebody chooses to pursue this journey or not.”
The platform removes the traditional coordination layer without eliminating access to professional support.
Malak explains, “What Pineapple Family has done is remove the coordination layer and enable families to work directly with the people and the professionals who are actually making surrogacy safe.”
Its approach also centers on giving families the information and tools to make informed decisions.
“Empowerment means giving people information and a structure to act on it. That’s what the Journey Doula does. That’s what our provider directory does. It’s the knowledge and infrastructure together that have the real effect.”
Beyond access and affordability, healthcare innovation is also challenging established approaches to treatment and recovery.
Integrating Photobiomodulation Into Patient Care
Ultra Red Light Therapy emerged from founder and owner Brooke McKeever’s personal experience with a severe neck injury. After three spine surgeons recommended surgery, McKeever turned to pulsed light therapy as part of her recovery. Her experience subsequently inspired the company.
Ultra Red Light Therapy provides tissue-specific, pulsed light pads designed to penetrate deeper and deliver faster results than conventional consumer wellness devices. With local physicians now referring patients, the company is seeing photobiomodulation gain attention beyond the alternative wellness space. According to McKeever, its growing acceptance reflects patient experiences rather than marketing efforts.
Recalling her recovery, she says, “I got myself off of all medications and basically got me active again and no surgery. And that was three spine surgeons that said, ‘ You will never feel your right arm again. Go on disability. So I defied all odds.”
McKeever also highlights the difference she believes the company’s technology can make in reaching injured tissue.
“I could feel the heat in the bone where it was injured instead of just some little tingling around it. You can still get there with the other ones eventually, six months, a year, where ours is like one day to one month.”
McKeever attributes the growing interest in the therapy to patients sharing their experiences with healthcare professionals.
“I think it’s patient-led. I don’t think it’s because the evidence is out there. What I think is leading it is the patients themselves saying, ‘Hey doc, I’ve tried this.’ And then that, over time, eventually gets to them.”
A Patient-Centred Approach to Elevate Healthcare Standards
Across sleep medicine, fertility and therapeutic healing, these three companies are setting examples. While existing healthcare models have left important patient needs unmet, SLIIIP is addressing fragmented sleep care, Pineapple Family is reducing the financial and coordination barriers surrounding surrogacy, and Ultra Red Light Therapy is bringing greater attention to pulsed light treatment.
Their approaches differ, but their underlying objective remains consistent. These companies are making healthcare more accessible, coordinated, and responsive to patients. By challenging established practices and addressing gaps in existing services, these healthcare providers are changing how patient care is delivered.
