CHICAGO – October 16, 2020 – Attendees of Thursday’s general session at AHIMA20 chose Candlelit Therapy as the winner of the second annual AHIMA Pitch Competition. AHIMA collaborated with MATTER to host the competition, and healthcare innovators were invited to pitch an idea that would disrupt healthcare while answering this year’s challenge question: “How might we use health and human data to identify social determinants of health to improve patient outcomes and healthcare systems?”

Candlelit Therapy’s virtual platform is designed to reach women of color before, during, and after pregnancy, which the company believes will help address disproportionate maternal mortality rates of Black women and reduce health disparities among Black women and families. Lauren Elliott, founder and CEO of Candlelit Therapy, presented at the Pitch Competition and showcased how the data they collect and use impacts social determinants of health.

The virtual services offered by Candlelit Therapy include mental health screenings before or during pregnancies; one-on-one therapy consults; personalized care plans; virtual communities of other moms and group therapy options; and a portable mental health record. Elliott said the company is working to build a new standard of care rooted in cultural competence, evidence-based therapy, and technology.

“Candlelit’s focus on placing tools in the hands of moms moves the discussion closer to how health and human data is used to improve patient outcomes and healthcare systems,” said Julie Pursley, MSHI, RHIA, CHDA, FAHIMA, director of health information thought leadership at AHIMA.

Augmented Intelligence, an AI software technology company that creates products for health and social services, finished second in the Pitch Competition. The top five was rounded out by ClaraPrice, CareSignal, and HuddleMD. Read more about Pitch Completion results.

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About AHIMA
AHIMA is a global nonprofit association of health information (HI) professionals. AHIMA represents professionals who work with health data for more than one billion patient visits each year. AHIMA’s mission of empowering people to impact health drives our members and credentialed HI professionals to ensure that health information is accurate, complete, and available to patients and providers. Our leaders work at the intersection of healthcare, technology, and business, and are found in data integrity and information privacy job functions worldwide.