One moment changed Priti Jain’s life. During an overnight shift during her time as an attending physician at a hospital in Connecticut, she treated a young woman complaining of stomach pain. Six months later, when the woman died of esophageal cancer, Priti had an epiphany.
“She came in with three small children in tow, and I treated her because I could speak her language, Urdu. It was the fifth or sixth time she had come in and no one had sent her for an endoscopy. When she died, I asked myself how I could provide better value to patients,” says Priti.
In answer to her question, Priti, herself an immigrant from Jaipur in northern India, founded Statcare, a company that offered quality emergency medical care to underserved communities in New York City, in 2008. Today, renamed Nao Medical (nao is pronounced “now”), the company operates in more than 13 locations across New York City, and has served more than two million people.
Nao Medical’s innovative model, which uses artificial intelligence to analyze each patient’s medical data and provide holistic care, from emergency medicine to mental health care and nutrition advice, has made Priti stand out in medical circles.
Her leadership has been recognized through numerous awards and nominations, including being named an honoree in the Women Presidents Organization (WPO) 2023 Entrepreneurial Women of Impact Awards, announced last September.
The awards aim to highlight and celebrate the exceptional achievements of entrepreneurs who are women of color in North America. They are presented by the WPO in partnership with Women Elevating Women, an organization that strives to boost the careers of women of color, and are sponsored by JPMorgan Chase Commercial Banking.
The daughter of a pediatrician, Priti grew up in Jaipur, with a few years spent in Ghana, West Africa, when she was a little girl. She always wanted to be a doctor. After graduating from Sawai Man Singh Medical College in Jaipur, she followed her husband, Sandeep Jain, also a doctor, to the United States in the mid-1990s.
Priti joined the WPO about four years ago, having been introduced to the organization by a friend. She found a community she loves. Although Priti has moved to the Zenith Chapter, for women whose companies have a gross turnover of more than $50-million a year, she is still in touch with members of the Long Island Chapter she initially joined.
Priti says she has learned a lot from her Zenith peers, including how to raise capital, deal with human resources challenges and market her business.
Her business acumen is visible in the many awards she has received, including being named a Crain's New York Business Notable Healthcare Leader in 2022 and an Ernst & Young 2023 Entrepreneur of the Year New York Award finalist.
She has accomplished all this while offering comprehensive healthcare to communities that are often poorly serviced. Nao Medical partners with community-based organizations. Its Zero Zip Code wellness initiative offers no-cost mammogram referrals and Pap smears to all women in the community, helping to decrease the incidence of breast and cervical cancers. Priti was inducted into the North Hampstead, New York roll of honor, in recognition of her service to the community.
“Everything we experience shapes us,” says Priti, who believes her upbringing in India and Ghana exposed her to a more holistic attitude to patient health than is often found in so-called Western medicine.
“I strongly believe we are what we eat. Nutrition is important. Also, we are what we believe – the mental [part] is vital. That’s why we offer our patients services in these areas.”