Pitch Challenge 2021 Contestant George Foulard, MD, Discusses Platform for Hospital Capacity Management

George Foulard, MD, a Diagnostic Radiology Resident at The Mount Sinai Hospital, is presenting Bedboard at the Mount Sinai Pitch Challenge on May 5. Bedboard, an information technology platform that matches discharged or transferred patients with proper care settings, won the Innovation Showcase in March and received a prototyping prize. Check out the Q&A with Foulard and learn more below!

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MSIP: Tell us about Bedboard. What kind of healthcare solution does it provide?
Foulard: Bedboard is a platform that provides a way for healthcare systems to rapidly expand patient capacity in times of excess demand for hospital beds. By allowing for hospitals to have more control of patient bed capacity on an as-needed basis, patients will be able to receive a higher quality of care, experience improved outcomes, and gain greater satisfaction with their hospital experience.

MSIP: What inspired you to dive into this field of technology?
Foulard: This idea is a product of my own experiences. As a surgical intern at a New York hospital, and, currently, as a radiology resident here at Mount Sinai, I regularly witnessed the challenges facing a busy, urban medical center. I saw firsthand how delays in getting patients home, or transferred to other care settings, are harmful to these individuals, stressful for families, and burdensome for care teams and hospital resources.

MSIP: What inspired you to develop a startup based on this technology?
Foulard: As doctors, we are here, first and foremost, to care for others, and anything that impacts a patient’s hospital experience should be designed in a way that places their well-being first. My team and I are ensuring that we build the platform with patient care as our primary goal.

MSIP: Why did you get started with MSIP’s entrepreneurial series?
Foulard: MSIP has offered me the chance to learn so much outside of my area of formal training. The exposure to all of the wonderful advisors and mentors has been enormously educational and highly motivating. I’m very excited to continue this journey with their support.

MSIP: What do you think distinguishes your tech from other Pitch Challenge teams?
Foulard: Bedboard aims to solve a major unmet need. While there isn’t a silver bullet that can fix all of the problems that hospitals experience in terms of capacity, incremental improvements in operations can make a huge impact. Bedboard’s solution is truly unique in its approach — it has the potential to restructure how we think about hospital capacity and the ways in which it is managed by healthcare systems.