Business Spotlight: Ashley Barrow, Founder & CEO of ReAssist

TODD: Well, hello everybody. Welcome to today's Business Spotlight. I'm your host Todd Rodden. I'm a certified business and executive coach. I own Aspire ActionCOACH based here in Southwest Ohio. We're thrilled to have you join us on the podcast series — you'll love this episode. It's eye-opening, with Ashley Barrow. Ashley is the CEO and founder of ReAssist — an AI-empowered platform focused on coordinated care, taking some of the burden off patients and caregivers as they navigate illness, disease, and treatment in our society. If you're new to the series, we encourage you to hit subscribe so you can receive future messages like the one you're about to hear from Ashley Barrow of ReAssist. Ashley, welcome to the Business Spotlight. If you could take a second, introduce yourself, tell us a little more about ReAssist and your mission, and why you started the business.

ASHLEY: Absolutely — thank you so much for having me, I'm so excited to be here. My name is Ashley Barrow, founder and CEO of ReAssist, and I spent decades as a nurse case manager in the tri-state area — Ohio, Indiana, and Kentucky. Throughout that work, there was just so much administrative burden — remembering providers, tracking down information — when it came to helping vulnerable individuals transition through care. For example, if someone aging or disabled needed to get connected to services in the community, we'd have to track down their electronic health record and know the provider directory — and that could take half a shift, sometimes days, just for one person's care. So what we did was put that into software, to make it easier for care coordinators to help patients navigate care — and, for patients who are able, to help them navigate it on their own.

TODD: I think many of us who've been caregivers — or patients ourselves — know there's a lot to navigate and juggle. Could you share who your ideal customer is, and who gets the most value out of ReAssist?

ASHLEY: First and foremost, primary care doctors — the ones helping patients navigate disease processes and transitions of care. We can be the back-end partner that helps get all of that documented, on a per-patient, per-month basis. Second, for primary care doctors connected to hospital systems, we can do primary-care-led innovation — bringing our software and framework into health systems so coordinators can be aligned to support transitions of care, whether that's from the hospital into the community or to another facility. And finally, we can work with population health and ambulatory care teams — care managers who need help with navigation can also use the software. So our main focus is primary care, with future paths into hospitals, ambulatory care, and even EMS.

TODD: In terms of those services — folks may not be directly familiar with this space. What makes ReAssist unique? I know you're a newer platform, but what separates you from other providers out there?

ASHLEY: We built a care coordination platform designed by a care coordinator with 20 years of experience — so it's extremely intuitive from the start. We always take a patient-first approach. We understand the barriers patients face, and the way we've built the platform — how we filter, sort, and organize providers — takes an equity-first approach, so individuals with compounded medical and social issues can be matched appropriately within the provider directory. We're also focused on killing the clipboard — pulling information from the electronic health record directly into forms, so coordinators aren't filling out the same information over and over, and providers get accurate information quickly. We didn't build this by starting with “here's the business problem and the money angle.” We built it from lived experience — understanding the pain points of coordinators, how long it takes to find the right provider directory, how long it takes to track down records from a specialist — and compiling all of that so it's right at your fingertips. And on the patient side, we have an intuitive filter that reads your documents and helps you follow your care plan closely. That experience-based approach is the difference.

TODD: In terms of the markets you're in — are you mostly in the tri-state area, or expanding geographically?

ASHLEY: Yes, tri-state for now, but we're also starting conversations in other regions. Wherever we go, the goal is the same — eliminate the administrative burden when it comes to navigating healthcare and case management.

TODD: That burden exists everywhere, geographically — so the opportunity is everywhere in the country. You're close to five years in now with building and launching the business. What marketing strategies have borne the most fruit for you in terms of growth?

ASHLEY: We took this thing and built what we could build with what we had. It started as a small project — a lot of people know it was me and my son who built the first generation. From there, we had to go raise money and find a team, and build credibility — and I think we've done that in a really strategic way. We went after credible accelerators that got us placed in different areas within healthcare, even around policy. We've been recognized by some of the biggest and brightest institutions, and we've partnered with great economic development organizations around the state of Ohio, from Cincinnati to Cleveland. I think we've done really well with execution when it comes to credibility and keeping the name out there. And on the product side, healthcare technology is moving so fast right now that we're finding ourselves ahead of the game in some areas — which we're really excited about.

TODD: You mentioned corporate partners — most businesses would love partnerships with larger enterprises, but it's often hard to get in the door. How did you crack that code?

ASHLEY: It is hard to get in the door. What we initially did — once we had something viable, something you could click through and actually use — was take it to every hospital innovation hub we could find. This was right around COVID, when there were a lot of innovation arms, though some were starting to dissolve. Some of them liked the idea, and we continue to work with them to this day. That was the strategy that I thought was really effective.

TODD: Great way to get in the door — probably some entrepreneurial people within those organizations too, by nature. Looking back over the last five years — any business journey has twists and turns. What's been a past challenge you and the team faced, and what did you learn from it?

ASHLEY: Defining who the real customer is. That's hard, especially in healthcare, because everything is confidential and proprietary, and competitors don't want to share their specific processes. So it's really hard to figure out who you're going after — the consumer? Patient-facing? Clinician-facing? Both? And if it's clinicians, which EHR are they using, because we have to integrate with that. What aspect of care are we addressing — because different providers have different processes and nuances you have to incorporate. And on top of that, you have to help make money or save money — what service code ties to the software, how does it increase productivity. Understanding who we could do this correctly for wasn't just customer discovery interviews — we had to really get in the lab. We partnered with universities to do deep dives and simulations on how the product would work and which customers would be the best fit. That deep diving was super exciting.

TODD: You mentioned you just got off a bunch of sales calls. What does a day in the life of Ashley Barrow, CEO of ReAssist, look like?

ASHLEY: It's a lot of following up — keeping relationships going, figuring out where customers are in the pipeline, how close we are to signing a contract. Making sure I'm giving good customer service, identifying needs, and if necessary, taking feedback and customizing — then relaying that to the team so they can execute. I'm also looking at first-quarter goals, where we are with implementation partners, what we're expecting from them and what they're expecting from us — just staying aligned with the sales cycle in general.

TODD: So you're managing sales, service, team communication, and goals — the typical business owner juggling a lot. You talked through some of those things you're focused on. What's a current challenge for you and the team this year?

ASHLEY: There's a lot going on in healthcare IT — a lot — and we've aligned ourselves pretty well with a lot of it. So it's really about figuring out what we can take on and what we can't, looking at where our current customers are, where we're going, and how that aligns with policy. There are things that you couldn't have imagined doing a year ago that are wide open now — especially with AI being able to read structured and unstructured data. It's exciting, especially for care coordination right now. So the challenge is figuring out exactly which direction we're going within all of healthcare IT, and how we execute against that.

TODD: You're roughly five years in — what's your long-term vision for the business? Ten-plus years down the road, where do you see this going?

ASHLEY: In about five years, I see the platform in the hands of major hospital systems — helping patients navigate from acute care to post-acute care, through population health, through the health plan, and through EMS. I think EMS is such a cool opportunity, and that's where a lot of my focus is heading. I'm hoping patients will be able to do a lot of their own navigation — everything just a click of a button, where they can identify next steps, move into eligibility, and then pre-authorization for the things they don't need help with. That's what we're looking at: expanding through the health system, the health plan, to EMS — and patients having the ability to self-navigate because the platform is that intuitive.

TODD: In terms of your team — I think you mentioned roughly five people. Given that you're AI-powered and in healthcare, what skills are required for that combination? Tell us about your team and your keys to building, retaining, and growing talent.

ASHLEY: Finding the talent and finding the team is absolutely hard — it's a lot like dating, you've got to get out there. Every single person on our team has had a personal experience navigating or transitioning through care themselves, which gives them real insight. And in their respective corporate roles, they've also had administrative experience that gives them a business and technical understanding. That's why I love our team — we're interpreters. We can interpret the clinical side to the tech side, and the business side as well. That's been incredibly helpful as we make decisions about where to start, what our beachhead is, which customers to take on, and how to grow as policy changes so quickly. Beyond that — understanding the APIs you can integrate with, understanding security and compliance and building that in from the beginning so you're not making costly mistakes later. We're also intentional about our interview process, making sure people can jump in and that they're with us for the long haul. And bringing on people who have the heart and passion for this work has been a real advantage.

TODD: How do you find that heart and passion in the interview process?

ASHLEY: We talk through it directly — have you ever had a loved one who had an issue with care and couldn't navigate it themselves? Have you ever experienced that? What do you think about navigation and care coordination — is that something you've thought about, or had come up in your life? And then, on the health IT and policy side — are you up to date on what's possible in healthcare from an IT standpoint, and what are your thoughts on where we could take this? That usually opens up a lot of discussion, and we go from there.

TODD: You've got a great foundation — 20-plus years in the industry, and now five-plus years running the business. What have been your keys to success that you'd want to share with entrepreneurs newer in their journey?

ASHLEY: I've just been so blessed. I never thought I'd be able to build a product — and not only build it, but commercialize it and get people paying for it. We've figured out how to organize it, gotten customer feedback, and put it into play. It's exciting to know that based on my own hardships as a care coordinator, and the gaps I saw, it's actually a solution for major institutions. To have someone say, “this really helped me, this changed my trajectory, I have the knowledge to do things I couldn't before, and I'm not burnt out anymore” — that means everything. I'm so thankful someone worked on this. That's success for me — satisfying my customers. I love them so much, and all I try to do is help them as best I can. As we continue to grow and build, I believe we'll just be doing more of that.

TODD: You can definitely sense your passion for your customer base. As we wrap up — what are the best ways for folks to learn more or connect with you and ReAssist?

ASHLEY: You can reach out to me — go to the website, www.reassistme.com, and you can email me as well. I'm available either way.

TODD: That information will all be in the show notes — I encourage everyone to go check it out and learn more. Ashley, as we wrap up today, your passion for what you're doing is clearly inspiring. What are you inspired by today?

ASHLEY: I'm inspired by the business owners — the primary care doctors, honestly. They're so awesome, because not only do they care for individuals and help them fight disease processes and navigate the healthcare system — they're a friend, a confidant, a lot of the time — but then they also have to run their own businesses. When I'm working with private practices, they're navigating billing, insurance companies, trying to figure out logistically what's best for their patients on top of everything else. I'm really inspired by them. I love helping them — it's amazing to see all that they do. That's what's inspiring me right now.

TODD: I love that — one of your primary customers is also your inspiration. That helps motivate you every day. So good. Ashley Barrow, ReAssist — thank you so much for joining us on the podcast and sharing your story.

ASHLEY: Thank you for having me.

TODD: And to our viewers — we're thrilled to have you join us today. Hit the like button to help us share the message, and if you haven't already, hit subscribe so you receive future inspiring stories like the one you heard from Ashley today. Thank you, and have a terrific day.