Four years ago, the then 19 year old Benjamin Marasco received some of the worst news possible… “You have Cancer.”
Being diagnosed and fighting cancer is hard enough of a battle leaving you to feel lost in life… but when Ben went to various hospitals to receive treatment, he time and time again would get lost on his way to appointments. This consistent confusion made him feel unseen, unimportant and just another number… not to mention being regularly late to his appointments. But Ben asked himself if their might be a different way to go about navigating hospitals. A way to get to appointments on time, take the stress out of navigating hospitals and focus on the patients and their families. This is why Ben founded Pathpoint Health…
Pathpoint is an app recently launched at Washington Hospital available on the Apple Store and Google Play. It allows users to input their destination in the hospital and gives them step by step guided instructions to get to their destinations on time! Using IPS (Indoor Positioning System) to guide users, Pathpoint solves the traditional problems of hospital visits while providing a new experience to patients. The startup projects to expand to providing its services to multiple other hospitals in the near future.
Entrepreneurs like Ben demonstrate key characteristics that make them successful. Determination and Drive are essential as seen with his successful rise against cancer and graduating with the award of Senior Man of the Year from Grove City College just this past spring as well as in his business venture. Other important skills include communication, teamwork and innovation. His promising company is one that inspires me to create a business founded on one of my passions to help others, as I hope it does for you too. Ben is innovating the healthcare field with a new way we interact with hospitals, a new way to give direction to those who are feeling lost in mind, body and soul. A new vision for hospitals everywhere..
I love this idea. I’ve always wondered if someone had ever come up with an app like this. I think if the user interface is easy enough to use then this app should be used in all big hospitals and other buildings of the like.
This is a very unique idea I never would have thought to come up with. Finding your way around hospitals can be very confusing. It would be neat to see this expand into use for other places such as business complexes, malls, or museums.
This idea is so simple and yet so useful. It can be really hard to try to navigate through hospitals and places you don’t know, and so having a GPS with instructions is very useful. This could become very helpful for many other types of businesses.
It’s truly inspiring that this man has turned his diagnosis into a helpful business! So often people stay focused on their trials and burdens. Forgetting that God is in control and that any circumstance can be turned into something positive. The idea itself is very helpful and innovative.
Ben (Benjo) is a GCC alum! I’ve had the pleasure of meeting him and getting to know him during my freshman year here. He still comes back regularly. I’ve talked with him about this app while he was still developing it and even gave him some feedback on it and offered suggestions. This app is truly groundbreaking, and I know it will be the standard in hospitals across the country.
PathPoint is really an incredible innovation! I remember talking to Benjo as he developed this idea. What a great example of finding a pain point and creating a business in that space. I also love the fact that this solves a problem that is universal. Hospitals are confusing everywhere, imagine what could happen if Benjo’s app expanded across the country and eventually, the world.
This app is incredible! This solves a huge problem that I’m sure many people face when they are traveling someplace they have never been especially hospitals. I am excited to see such a great innovation come from a Grove City graduate.
I really enjoyed reading about this innovation! I admire how Ben tried to solve a problem that he was directly dealing with. I like how you mentioned that he had key characteristics of an entrepreneur. He was both determined and driven in order to make Pathpoint a success.
Benjo is quite the entrepreneur, and a great guy who is able to easily connect with those he comes in contact with. This does not surprise me that he connected something that he personally went through to make others’ lives easier. PathPoint connects the patient with the hospital in a way that sometimes the workers are not able to do. Also with so many people wanting to use Apps to figure out things more than ask, this directly connects with those customers.