BASE Demo Day Snapshot: Maurice Hicks, Vertex Medical Solutions

The pitch: Vertex works to reduce health disparities by addressing ineffective tools in healthcare settings that fail to address psychosocial risk factors, particularly in minority and vulnerable populations. Vertex's web-based application aims to bridge the knowledge-to-action gap, promoting trauma-informed care and providing evidence-based resources to assist healthcare providers in addressing psychosocial risk factors.

Q: Can you tell us a little about your background?
A: After graduating from Carleton College with a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology, I gained valuable, hands-on experience working on child & adolescent psychiatric units. The inequitable, traumatizing care I observed drove me to pursue a career in medicine with the hopes of promoting more equitable, trauma-informed, patient-centered care on a systemic level. As an MD-MBA student, I have pursued this dream by starting and leading two nonprofits committed to mentorship and trauma-informed care of vulnerable populations while also conducting quality improvement research to further my knowledge of the system I hope to influence. Through the establishment of Vertex Medical Solutions Inc., I hope to provide innovative solutions to address the complex disparities in medicine with a focus on addressing psychosocial risk factors. 

Q: What was the inspiration behind the idea for your company?
I worked in various medical settings prior to medical school, and in each one of them, I couldn't help but feel like we weren't actually addressing the real problems that continued to affect the health of our patients. I'd see the same patients come back again and again with the same or similar problems, just to get sent back out with what seemed like a glorified band-aid. When I worked in a student-clinic my first year in medical school as a community health worker, I got excited about all of the resources this clinic regularly shared with its patients who were coming in with various health-related social needs that were impacting their health. Unfortunately, their system to do so was incredibly inefficient and outdated as the resources were housed in a paper binder that was not updated regularly. I was shocked to find out that these resources and the ability to match patients to them was not an essential function of the electronic health record we were using. At that point, I began to think, there has to be a better way of systematically addressing the various health-related social needs our vulnerable patient population was presenting with. That is when I decided to create Vertex, a digital health company that creates technological solutions to address social drivers of health and address health disparities that results from inattention to these risk factors.

Q: How does your company differentiate itself from existing companies in your industry?

A: I differentiate Vertex from competitors by leveraging my unique industry knowledge and skills. As the CEO and Founder, I am a future doctor myself. My expertise in trauma-informed care and culture change within the medical field drives the development of our solution. Vertex not only offers technological assistance but also empowers users through a groundbreaking trauma-informed educational platform, enabling them to excel in their roles.

Q: What are the future plans and next steps for your company?

A: In the future, Vertex hopes to work with insurers to integrate our solutions into existing electronic health records and become the standard for connecting patients to needed resources while equipping physicians to more effectively care for vulnerable patient populations. Next steps for Vertex involve further development of the team and continued development on our innovative
platform.

BASE Demo Day happens Thursday, July 27 from 5:30 - 7:30 pm at the Toaster Innovation Hub in Walter Library. The public is welcome to watch entrepreneurs pitch their startups and get feedback from the panel of faculty and industry experts.