With extensive experience in medical device manufacturing and a keen eye for innovation in health-tech, Faisal Zain has a unique perspective on the forces shaping the future of healthcare. We sat down with him to discuss the recent rise of care navigation platforms, particularly Solace Health, which just achieved a staggering $1 billion valuation. Our conversation explored the powerful role of personal experience in driving a company’s mission, how a hands-on “no homework” approach to patient advocacy is disrupting the industry, and the intricate clinical and bureaucratic challenges these services are designed to overcome. Faisal also shared his insights on Solace’s strategic growth plans following its massive $130 million funding round and what it signals for the broader health-tech landscape.
Your company’s origin is tied to a difficult family healthcare experience. How did that personal insight shape Solace’s mission, and what specific gaps in the system—like finding in-network specialists or coordinating appointments—are your advocates now focused on solving for patients every day?
That personal story is the very foundation of Solace’s mission. The co-founder, Jeremy Gurewitz, watched his own mother, a radiologist specializing in breast cancer, navigate the system while battling pancreatic cancer. Despite her deep medical knowledge and access to top-tier care, the experience was a complete nightmare for her—he described it as Kafkaesque. This raw, firsthand view of the system’s failings, even for the privileged, created an intense drive to build something better. The advocates are now laser-focused on solving the exact friction points he witnessed: they handle the relentless tasks of finding in-network providers, scheduling a web of appointments across different clinicians, and making sense of confusing insurance coverage and bills so patients don’t have to.
Many care navigation platforms act as guides, giving patients a to-do list. How does Solace’s “no homework” approach fundamentally differ, and could you walk us through the step-by-step actions an advocate takes to directly resolve a complex insurance or billing issue on a patient’s behalf?
The “no homework” ethos is the core differentiator and, I believe, the key to their success. Most platforms will identify a problem, maybe point you to a form or a phone number, and then leave you with a list of tasks. Solace’s model recognizes that patients are often too sick, stressed, or exhausted to take on more work. Instead of telling you what to do, an advocate does it for you. For a billing issue, they wouldn’t just send you an article on how to dispute a claim. They would obtain the necessary permissions, get on the phone with the hospital’s billing department, wait on hold, and directly challenge the erroneous charge. They then follow up with the insurance company, armed with policy details, and see the process through to resolution, all while keeping the patient updated through the platform.
The initial patient intake involves a meeting with a physician. What is the clinical and regulatory importance of this step, and how does that initial consultation help tailor the long-term support an advocate provides for someone managing a chronic illness?
That initial physician meeting is a brilliant and necessary component of their model, serving two critical functions. From a clinical standpoint, it provides essential oversight. Having a physician confirm the diagnosis and map out the care plan ensures that the advocate’s work is grounded in medical accuracy and is aligned with the patient’s actual needs. For someone with a chronic illness, this establishes a clinical baseline that informs every action the advocate takes, from medication access to specialist coordination. From a regulatory perspective, this step is crucial for meeting the requirements tied to Medicare coverage. By establishing this clinical relationship, Solace can bill for its services, allowing it to offer the platform to most Medicare and Medicare Advantage patients with little to no out-of-pocket cost.
In a severe case, a patient was wrongfully removed from an organ transplant list. Using that scenario, can you detail the bureaucratic hurdles an advocate overcomes—from correcting medical charts to negotiating with registries—and why that level of intervention is something most patients cannot manage alone?
That organ transplant case is a gut-wrenching example of why this level of intervention is so vital. The first hurdle was correcting the medical record after a nurse misinterpreted a joke and labeled the patient an alcoholic, a catastrophic error that got him kicked off the list. The advocate had to navigate the hospital’s internal, cumbersome process just to get that single word changed in the chart. But that was only the beginning. The next, even bigger hurdle was dealing with the National Organ Transplant Registry. The advocate had to fight to get the patient reinstated, and then, after he was placed at the bottom of the list, they spent roughly three months submitting documentation and relentlessly following up with administrators to correct his placement to reflect the years he had already waited. A seriously ill patient simply does not have the energy, knowledge, or emotional fortitude to fight a multi-front bureaucratic war like that on their own.
With a recent $130 million funding round and a valuation over $1 billion, what are the key growth areas you’re targeting before a potential 2028 IPO? Please elaborate on how this new capital will help expand your services to more patients covered by Medicare.
With $130 million in fresh capital and unicorn status, the primary focus is on aggressive expansion and scaling their reach, with a clear target of a potential IPO in 2028. This capital infusion is the fuel needed to broaden their footprint significantly. A major part of this strategy is deepening their penetration into the Medicare market, which they’ve already identified as a core user base. The funds will likely be used to build the infrastructure needed to support a larger volume of patients, hire more advocates and clinical staff, and invest in marketing and partnerships to ensure that more of the millions of Americans on Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans are aware that this service exists and is covered for them.
What is your forecast for the future of healthcare navigation?
I believe we’re moving away from purely informational tools and toward full-service advocacy models like Solace’s. The “no homework” approach will become the industry standard because the market is finally realizing that simply giving a sick person more information is not a solution; it’s just another burden. Technology will continue to streamline the logistics, but the human element—the dedicated advocate who makes the calls and fights the battles—will remain the core value proposition. Companies that can successfully blend empathetic human support with a scalable tech platform will not only dominate the market but will fundamentally change what patients expect from their healthcare experience.
