Darren Schulte, M.D., M.P.P.
CEO, Vynca
Caring for those living with life-limiting, serious illnesses has always demanded more than just the selection and management of disease-modifying therapies. One needs to manage their symptoms, address psychosocial needs, discuss goals of care, and deliver support to avoid crises. Yet, too often, our healthcare system is geared to short visits, uncoordinated care, and crisis management. Without proactive care, patients face unnecessary hospitalizations, morbidity, and stress.
At Vynca, we believe there’s a better way. We believe that patients and their families deserve home-based care delivered by an interdisciplinary team that provides clinical, social, and emotional support. With our proprietary care orchestration software and artificial intelligence (AI), we can predict needs and deliver coordinated, personalized care. Our visits are designed to address risk factors and avoid decompensation. We believe that every patient gets the right care at the right time in the right place for more quality days at home™.
There are avoidable hospitalizations during the journey of a patient with diseases such as late-stage heart failure or metastatic cancer. For example, uncontrolled pain or sudden fluid overload can result in a late-night ER visit. When the healthcare system is unavailable during nights and weekends, and visits are typically scheduled to be short and therapy-focused, there are limited opportunities to intervene. Predictive analytics—the process of analyzing current and historical data to forecast the risk of future health events—shifts the paradigm of care for serious illnesses. By harnessing a blend of clinical, biometric, and self-reported data, coupled with social and behavioral cues, AI can anticipate when a patient is at risk of decline days or weeks before an acute event occurs. We schedule visits based on addressing the risk of future events, not on convenience for the clinician.
We trained models to create a rising-risk score based on factors such as patient performance status and changes in clinical status. We utilize generative AI to analyze available clinical notes and structure key findings to integrate with other acquired datasets for the risk predictor. A relatively high rising-risk score is used to schedule proactive visits and address potential issues before they escalate into critical situations. The goal is to stay one step ahead in patient care, providing timely interventions and improving overall health outcomes.
Our tech-driven care model “finds the patient” by continuously monitoring data and daily routines in the background, rather than the patient “finding the doctor” when their symptoms become unbearable. Our process flags subtle changes and coordinates the right intervention before a problem becomes a crisis. This is the future we’re building at Vynca: a model that prioritizes more quality days at home™, goal-concordant care, and peace of mind for patients and their families.
Predictive analytics in palliative care is built on four core activities: observation, detection, coordination, and action. Our platform securely acquires and integrates data from electronic health records, remote monitoring devices, and self-reported data to construct a rich patient profile. We continuously analyze key changes in the patient profile using AI to identify rising risk.
We don’t just identify risk. We enable real-life, personalized interventions. For example, when a rising risk score signals a potential acute event, our system can trigger a smart scheduling workflow, ensuring a clinician visits within 24 hours.
This orchestration extends beyond clinical care, as we continue to explore the use of AI agents to further automate administrative tasks, freeing clinicians to focus on what matters most: patient and family interactions. These efforts are evolving our care model, advancing seamless, coordinated support that adapts to each patient’s complex care needs—whether in person, via telehealth, or through 24/7 support.
At Vynca, our AI-driven approach has resulted in an 81% reduction in patient symptoms, a 43% decrease in emergency department visits, and a 52% decrease in inpatient admissions. Patients spend more quality days at home™, families experience less stress, and providers can deliver care that is both compassionate and efficient.
For health systems and payers, predictive analytics translates into measurable value: fewer avoidable hospitalizations, improved quality metrics, and a return on investment that supports the shift to value-based care.
As we look ahead, the promise of predictive analytics in serious illness care is clear. By blending clinical expertise with care orchestration software, we can deliver coordinated, proactive support that ensures patients and families receive exactly what they need, when and where they need it. At Vynca, we’re committed to leading this transformation. For people living with a serious illness, every quality day at home counts—and with predictive analytics, we can make more of those days possible.
To learn more about how Vynca can support your practice, or to refer a patient today, visit vyncacare.com, email us at hello@vyncacare.com, or call 1-888-227-8884.