What started as a frustrating personal experience navigating the healthcare insurance system has grown into a mission to make the process easier for providers and patients alike.
Founded by Raelynn Lasonde, NextHealth AI is developing an AI-assisted healthcare administration platform designed to simplify prior authorizations, appeals and other complex insurance workflows.
We caught up with Raelynn to learn how her experience as a patient inspired the company, how she’s turning firsthand industry knowledge into technology and what’s next for NextHealth AI.
What inspired you to start NextHealth AI? Was there a particular experience that made you realize this was a problem you wanted to solve?
This really started when I was 17. I had played ice hockey for years, and one side of my nose had collapsed and was causing an obstruction. I found a surgeon I wanted to go to and expected the office to submit the procedure to insurance because there was a functional medical issue.
For almost a year, I kept calling the office and was told the authorization had been submitted. Eventually, I called my insurance company myself and found out nothing had actually been submitted.
I finally asked the office to give me the paperwork so I could try doing it myself. I was a teenager trying to figure out prior authorization, and the insurer kept asking me for information that I obviously didn’t have as the patient.
I lost the opportunity to have that surgery with the doctor I had spent so long trying to see. I eventually went somewhere else and had a very poor surgical outcome. That experience affected me a lot, but it also made me realize how many other people probably go through similar situations without ever knowing where the process broke down.
That was really the beginning of everything.
How does NextHealth AI address those challenges, and what makes your approach different?
I’m trying to make NextHealth AI follow the case rather than automate one isolated task.
The platform is being designed to take information from medical records and insurance documentation, structure it, help identify payer specific requirements, assist with coding, detect documentation gaps and prepare prior authorization or appeal materials for human review.
I’m also expanding that into medication prior authorizations and building continuity into the system so that if an authorization turns into a request for additional information, then a denial, then an appeal, you aren’t essentially starting over every time.
The biggest difference for me is where the product came from. I’m not designing what I imagine a medical biller needs. I actually do this work. A lot of the features exist because at some point I personally thought, “Why am I still doing this manually?”
What milestone or accomplishment are you most proud of so far?
The thing I’m most proud of isn’t necessarily a technical milestone. It’s that something that was originally one of the most upsetting experiences of my life eventually became something I could use to help other people.
Going from being the patient who didn’t understand why nothing was happening, to learning the process myself, to helping other patients, to becoming a professional biller, and now building software around that knowledge is something I’m really proud of.
From the business side, I’m also proud that I’ve been able to build a working product and generate real business revenue while bootstrapping rather than starting with outside investment.
Where is NextHealth AI today, and what are you currently focused on?
NextHealth AI currently has a working product environment under active development. I would describe us as being in the minimum viable product and pilot validation stage.
Right now I’m focused on making the platform more reliable, strengthening security and compliance readiness, expanding the authorization workflows, building integrations and getting structured pilot validation with healthcare organizations.
How has being part of the INSPYRE community supported you and NextHealth AI?
INSPYRE has been especially valuable because building a company can become very isolating when you are doing so much of it yourself.
Having access to people who understand entrepreneurship and can connect me with resources, programs and other people in the ecosystem has helped me start thinking beyond just building the product and toward building an actual scalable company.
Even this Client Spotlight came through an introduction within that community, which is a good example of why those relationships matter. I’m still relatively early in my relationship with INSPYRE, so I’m excited about continuing to use the mentorship, connections and opportunities available through the community.
What’s next for NextHealth AI? What are you hoping to accomplish over the next year?
The next year is really about proving that what I’ve built from my own experience can work repeatedly for other healthcare organizations.
I want to complete structured pilots, measure how much time the platform saves, evaluate documentation quality and authorization outcomes, and use that feedback to continue improving the product.
By the end of that period, I want NextHealth AI to have gone from a founder built product with strong domain knowledge to a validated healthcare technology company with repeatable customers and measurable results.
From navigating the complexities of healthcare insurance as a teenager to building technology designed to help others avoid similar experiences, Raelynn is turning a personal challenge into an opportunity for meaningful change. We’re excited to support her entrepreneurial journey through the INSPYRE community and look forward to seeing what’s next for NextHealth AI.
