Leanne Sherred, a pediatric speech therapist, has long faced challenges implementing caregiver-led therapy in traditional care settings.
Research suggests that caregiver-directed speech therapy, which involves training patient caregivers in therapeutic skill-building techniques for use at home, can be highly effective. But as Sered observed during her practice, therapists often have limited access to caregivers and the person serious educational and technological barriers.
In 2020, around the start of the pandemic, Sherred saw an opportunity to attempt a new technology-enabled speech therapy care model, one that put caregivers “at the center of care” (in her words). She partnered with Nick Barbara (Shered’s husband), Spencer Magloff, and Ryan Hinojosa to found Expressivea platform that offers one-on-one virtual sessions with speech pathologists.
“Layered on top of Expressable’s modern care is a platform that includes in-home multimedia programming, interactive weekly exercises, SMS support from therapists and more,” Magloff, Expressable’s chief marketing officer, told TechCrunch in an interview. “With Expressable, speech therapy is not limited to once or twice a week, without the involvement of the caregiver.”
Expressable is covered by some insurance plans (including Medicaid), but also offers and accepts private pay HSAs and FSAs. Matches patients with speech therapists who may be able to meet their needs and fit into their schedule. The corresponding therapist develops a treatment plan and then meets regularly with the patient and/or their caregiver for online sessions.
Certain aspects of the plan are designed to be done on the patient’s time, through Exressable’s self-service platform. Patients and caregivers can track week-to-week progress toward goals and milestones in their personalized plans.
Expressable, which caters to both adults and children with conditions ranging from language disorders to speech delays, aphasia, stuttering and autism spectrum disorder, differentiated itself early from many other telehealth startups by hiring health professionals as W2 employees in contrast with contractors. While that increased Expressable’s medical licensing burden, it positioned the company well to handle difficult speech cases, Magloff says, which often require intensive, long-term treatment plans.
“With Expressable, parents and caregivers become active members of their patient’s care team, extending care at home and throughout the therapeutic progression for faster results,” said Magloff.
The digital and telehealth sector enjoyed liberal access to capital at the height of the pandemic, but it has cooled noticeably. But Expressable is bucking the trend, earlier this week closing a $26 million Series B round led by HarbourVest Partners with participation from Digitalis Ventures, F-Prime Capital and Lerer Hippeau.
With $50 million in the bank, Expressable plans to improve its care delivery model and core technology, expand relationships with payers and expand its network of therapists as well as its operational team. The company is also experimenting with various forms of AI, Magloff says.
“There are some relevant AI use cases that we are currently investigating or adapting to improve the customer experience,” he added. “These could help capture common speech errors, reduce administrative burden for clinicians and improve operational efficiency.”
