HealthTech startup Streamline Flow is on a mission to revolutionize patient care management in healthcare systems. The company was founded by nurses Kelly Ayala, DNP, APNP, BSN and Shannon Hattenhauer, RN, BSN in 2020, as the result of their experience working with cancer patients. The pair created an easily integrated digital tool to help patients and care teams ensure treatment plans are followed.The emerging company added a seasoned healthcare professional, Amanda Schleede as CEO in 2021 and is gaining fans in the nursing industry for its innovative approach to addressing long-term patient care gaps.

The sixth annual Healthcare Innovation Pitch Competition was presented by Bridge to Cures, the Medical College of Wisconsin’s Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI) and Accelerating Medical Product Development (AMPDNR) and hosted by Gateway Capital Partners at the Eagleknit Innovation Hub on Thursday night.

Kelly Ayala DNP’18, APNP, BSN, started out her nursing career as an intensive care unit (ICU) nurse. One day while working in the ICU, Ayala noticed something that bothered her; all the medicines stored in the refrigerator were in one large pile. She couldn’t fathom why different kinds of medicines — sedatives, paralytics, and other categories — were thrown together.

Nurses are well-positioned to create transformative solutions for healthcare delivery, especially leveraging technology to care for patients more effectively and efficiently. Nurses Kelly Ayala and Shannon Hattenhauer are solving care gaps through Streamline Flow, a new and innovative solution that simplifies healthcare workflows and helps patients stay on their care plan.

The opposite of equity in practice is inequity in practice. Once I began to understand the ways that groups of my patients were affected by various rules, expectations, stereotypes and historically racist policies, I also began to see inequity in practice. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. Come with me as we follow a patient who is 17 minutes late to their primary care appointment. We’ll look at it from the point of view of various folks in the clinic that day.