Just over a year ago, Douglas Ford ’23 woke up to severe chest pains while visiting family in a rural town in South Jersey. But when he arrived at the emergency room, he had to wait for nine hours before finally getting a room — a delay in treatment that almost led to his death.
In his next two weeks in the intensive care unit, Ford, then a graduate student at Harvard Medical School, came up with the idea for Chromie Health — a novel artificial intelligence-powered healthcare management service.
Now the chief executive officer of Chromie Health, Ford was named on the Forbes 30 under 30 list under the Healthcare category on Dec. 3 alongside Harvard classmate and co-founder Scott Tisoskey.
Chromie Health analyzes patterns in patient behavior to predict demand, recommending efficient allocations of healthcare staff. The system also works to maximize patient outcomes by informing more specialized treatment plans, minimizing delays in receiving care and lessening the stress on medical staff.
Since its launch, the company has raised over $2.1 million and has launched pilot programs in more than 120 nursing teams.
“Before Chromie, hospitals would waste billions of dollars per year, [and] unit managers would dedicate 10 to 15 hours each week, manually updating schedules on pen and paper. It’s crazy,” Ford said. “We save hospitals $320,000 per unit, and more importantly, we save nursing managers eight hours per week on scheduling.”
Ford said that when he woke up with his chest pain, “Something in my body was just screaming ‘red alert.’” However, when Ford arrived at the emergency room, he was not able to receive the immediate care that he needed.
“It looked like a scene from a war zone. There were people waiting in the parking garage. The hallways were full. There [were] no nurses,” Ford described. “It was a critical nursing shortage. I mean, it was intense. I waited there for nine hours before finally getting a room.”
This delay in treatment was almost fatal for Ford. Ford had myocarditis — inflammation of the heart muscle — and began experiencing Ventricular tachycardia episodes — periods of rapid, abnormal heart rhythm — before going into heart failure. After receiving a code blue — an indication that a patient needs serious and immediate attention — Ford was transported to the intensive care unit.
“It was the closest call you could have ever imagined,” Ford said. He said that his cardiologist told him he had been minutes away from dying.
Ford was required to spend the next two weeks in the ICU, and it was during this time that he got the idea for Chromie Health.
Ford graduated from the School of Hotel Administration with minors in information science and real estate. He has also received a master of science in engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and a master of science in bioethics from Harvard Medical School.
In an interview with The Sun, Ford shared that while being named on Forbes 30 Under 30 was a personal achievement, “it’s also a win for Cornell as a whole,” citing the support and opportunities he received during his time as an undergraduate. Ford emphasized that his journey as an entrepreneur was non-linear, and credited Cornell for much of his success.
“One thing I loved about Cornell is they’re so encouraging of their students’ dreams, passions and entrepreneurial goals,” Ford said. “I probably had 10 startups that completely failed by graduation. … I went from selling … beach umbrellas my freshman year to eventually, what is now a life-saving tech start-up.”
Ford also explained that he felt empowered by the diversity present at Cornell as a member of the LGBTQ+ community and a first-generation American.
“I was able to network with other fellow LGBTQ entrepreneurs and other first-generation Americans,” Ford said. “I really am proud to represent the LGBT community and also all the other first-generation Americans who are aspiring to create the next big start-up.”
Regarding the future of the company, Ford said that he aspires for Chromie Health to become “the Uber of healthcare scheduling.” He intends for the company to expand internationally, and integrate quantum computing to stay two steps ahead of their competitors.
“I remind my team every day — move fast, save lives. That’s what we stand for,” Ford said.
Giselle Redmond ’28 is a Sun contributor and can be reached at [email protected].