So we wanted to come up with a catchy headline for this first post and for some reason Mr. Dumpty sprang to mind. The subconscious at work perhaps, but it seemed like our friend from the nursery rhymes was a fitting metaphor. Despite everyone’s best intentions on the road to healing — though one could argue many in the health realm don’t always have the best of intentions — all of the king’s horses and all of the king’s men … Well, you know the rest.

Anyway, rather than try and put a disjointed system back together again, where insurance isn’t even accepted for 95% of testing and treatment in the Lyme and mold world, why not focus on a novel approach that works for everyday people. And that’s where ‘direct to consumer’ comes in. More on this in a moment, lots more.  But first, a quick note on “raveling”.

Ravel, in addition to being the name of our company and wanting to drop some form of it in the above title, is a really interesting verb. It can mean both to tangle and untangle. We liked the duality there, in that we’re taking a system (and body/mind) that is beyond tangled and working to untangle the mess. Folks usually ask where the name came from, and there you have it.

Alrighty, now that the mystery of our name is out of the way, back to direct care. So what is it? Put simply, it’s care between you and your Lyme/mold/chronic illness physician — as well as functional nutritionist and/or health coach — with no 3rd party in the middle, in this case all done in a virtual setting. And it’s not a new concept. It’s how medicine used to be, before we, as a nation, started spiraling down the unsustainable trajectory we’re on.

Now what is new, in this digital age, are the ways we can connect things like we never could before. And healthcare, my friends, is an industry that could use an assist in this department. People are craving transparent, simple, affordable, patient-driven options. Thing is, so are providers. This is true for all of medicine, but even more so for those of us suffering from Lyme disease, mold toxins and other “mystery” illnesses.  

So we thought, what if we could create an alternative to the traditional insurance framework, where people could go straight to those who provide the care. Where they could add providers to their personal care team based on their unique needs, situation and budget.   

Kind of a DIY platform for Lyme disease, mold toxicity, and chronic illness, with patients in the driver’s seat.

We’re focusing on ease of use, flexibility and a no-fine-print mantra. Spend a little time on the Ravel platform, and you can see what’s in it for the patients and providers. Surprises are fun when you’re talking birthday parties, but for healthcare, not so much.  All of the costs will be transparent, as will the services you receive for the monthly subscription fees charged by providers.  

At the end of the day, our intent is to sprinkle a little digital pixel dust and get out of the way and let you interface directly with those providing your care. In a streamlined, on-demand, virtual, cost-effective way.

Simple as that.

People dealing with Lyme, mold and other hard-to-pin-down conditions have been going it alone for far too long. Our intent is to change that in a big way …