Massachusetts eHealth Institute (MeHI) grantee Onward, one of the winners of the Mass Digital Health Healthy Aging Challenge, recently expanded its service area from the San Francisco Bay Area to Southern California and Arizona. The expansion broadens access to Companion Rides, Onward’s assisted Door-Through-Door transportation service, to these two new markets.
The company has experienced significant growth and success over the past few years, also participating in the 2023 AARP AgeTech Collaborative accelerator and winning the Alzheimer's Association 2024 Pitch Competition.
According to CEO and Co-founder Kim Petty, MeHI and its Sandbox Program were instrumental in helping support the company’s growth and go to market strategy.
"The insights we received from MeHI’s Sandbox Program helped us crystallize a strategy that met our mission of removing transportation barriers to ensure well-being. The research we are conducting with our MeHI Sandbox partner, MITRE, is helping us elevate visibility for how transportation barriers impact people’s health and well-being and focus our efforts on where we can have the greatest impact for people with mobility barriers," said Petty.
Customer and rider experience are the driving forces for Onward. They are working across health care providers, transit agencies, and health plans to optimize access to transportation for those who need it most. Features like favorite rider/driver matching algorithms, cultural competency training, elevated online ordering experience for care teams, and notifications to care partners set Onward apart from their competition as they work to create a better transportation experience for everyone.
New partnerships, to be announced soon, will expand Onward’s mission and footprint, removing transportation barriers to ensure better health outcomes across the country.