Bio: Miraj is the Chief Product Officer at Carallel, a company that helps healthcare organizations partner with family caregivers, equipping them to care well for themselves and those they love. Miraj has a wealth of experience in product design, development, and strategy, working for healthcare technology companies including Wellable, Varsa Health, and Third Eye Health. His goal is to create best-in-category products that serve as welcomed solutions to problems people face every day. Miraj earned his master’s degree in biomedical sciences from Tufts University. Having grown up in the food industry, he loves bringing family and friends together to try his latest and greatest recipes.

Org Info: Carallel makes caregiving easier by providing caregivers a listening ear, expert guidance, and digital tools so they can confidently manage the twists and turns of caregiving. Carallel uniquely combines a team of caregiving experts, called Care Advocates, with a technology platform specifically designed for caregiver needs and health organization requirements. By helping health organizations identify, engage, and empower caregivers to navigate their difficult role, Carallel is able to reduce burden, increase satisfaction and loyalty, and improve health outcomes for both the caregiver themselves and the loved ones in their care.

What motivated you to pursue your current work?

Throughout my career, I have primarily focused on building solutions for the acute care space. In the last two years, I experienced personal events that made me realize that good healthcare requires more than just good clinical or medical care. My mother-in-law retired as a caregiver for my father-in-law, and my mother was diagnosed with a rare disease that causes hearing loss. These personal events made me realize that by focusing my work solely in the acute care realm, I was missing helping key personas — the family caregivers.

What distinct value does your work bring to the digital health field?

Caregiver burnout has downstream impacts on healthcare clinical and financial outcomes. Over 53 million unpaid caregivers are the backbone and support systems for patients receiving care throughout the healthcare ecosystem. Empowering caregivers directly impacts emergency room usage (73% increased ER use for dementia patients whose caregivers have depression, JAMA Neurology) and inpatient stays (32% decreased likelihood of inpatient stays for people with family caregivers, Health Economics).

How does your work impact your target end-users or stakeholders?

Carallel makes caregiving easier by reducing the burden with tangible actions via a technology-enabled service. Carallel addresses cultural, socioeconomic, and systemic challenges to ensure every caregiver can navigate access to resources beyond traditional healthcare services. Care Advocates (our caregiving experts) and proprietary digital tools provide caregivers with expert guidance and a sounding board so they can feel more confident managing the day to day of caring for a loved one.

What is one exciting update or near-term opportunity that you would like to share with the digital health community?

Carallel is growing dramatically in 2023; five new health plans launched a caregiver support benefit using Carallel on January 1, 2023. This is in addition to one existing health plan and two employer customers. We also recently closed our Series A funding, which will help support these efforts and future growth, including hiring new product and engineering roles.