PitchMI Finalist Spotlight: BedConnect

David Washburn
Welcome to the MSU Research Foundation podcast. Today, Pete is talking with BedConnect, led by Lindsay A. Joseph. I hope you enjoy the episode.

Pete Martin
Hey, it’s Pete Martin with the MSU Research Foundation podcast. I’m joined today by Lindsay Joseph, founder of BedConnect. How are you doing, Lindsay?

Lindsay A. Joseph
I’m doing fantastic. Happy to be here. It’s 70 degrees and sunny today. I’m just waiting for the third winter to show up in Michigan, but for now the weather is really nice.

Pete Martin
It’s coming. The forecast says it’s coming. But today is a beautiful day.

For folks who don’t know you yet, can you share a little about your background and what BedConnect does?

Lindsay A. Joseph
Sure. I’m the co-founder and CEO of BedConnect. We help hospitals discharge patients to post-acute sites of care, like rehab facilities or nursing homes.

Pete Martin
And can you explain that for someone like me who doesn’t have a healthcare background? Why is that important?

Lindsay A. Joseph
Sure. When patients are admitted to the hospital, they’re diagnosed and treated, and the care team focuses on getting them safely to the next level of care. Reimbursement is often tied to that transition.

Sometimes patients can’t go straight home. For example, if someone had surgery and also has dementia or dialysis needs, they may need to recover in a nursing home or rehab facility.

The challenge is how hospitals find those placements. Right now, many hospitals send out referral blasts asking, “Can anyone take this patient?” Then everyone waits. Hospitals feel immense pressure to move patients so beds open up, while post-acute facilities get flooded with requests for patients they may not even be able to care for.

There’s a big disconnect.

What we do is match patients—based on the hospital’s criteria—to the right care site that has bed availability, meets the clinical needs, and is in-network with the patient’s insurance.

Pete Martin
This reminds me of something from my background. I was a hospitality business major at MSU, and my parents owned a hotel. Hotels oversell rooms sometimes. When that happened, we’d call around all day checking availability at nearby hotels so we could send guests somewhere else if needed.

What you’re describing feels like that—but way more complicated and way more expensive. And you’ve built a solution for healthcare systems across the country.

Lindsay A. Joseph
Exactly. I actually love that analogy.

We sometimes call ourselves the “OpenTable for nursing homes.” If you’re looking for Italian food, you don’t want bar food showing up in your search results. With OpenTable you can see availability, seating, timing—everything.

From a healthcare perspective, that’s what we’re doing.

Pete Martin
Nice. OpenTable for healthcare. Super cool.

You didn’t build this randomly—you’ve lived this problem. What’s your background?

Lindsay A. Joseph
I’m a CPA by training. I started in healthcare consulting with PwC, then worked in hospital leadership roles in Detroit. Eventually I became CFO of a Level One trauma center.

In those roles I saw firsthand what staff and patients go through during this discharge process. Patients are already in a vulnerable moment, and the system puts enormous pressure on everyone involved. Hospitals need to move patients out because others are waiting in the emergency department.

My co-founder is a Yale-trained geriatrician and licensed nursing home administrator. When we sat down together and asked, “How do we solve this for both sides?” that’s where BedConnect came from.

Our goal is simple: make doing the right thing the easiest thing.

Human nature is to follow the path of least resistance. With BedConnect, everyone wins. Hospitals can discharge patients safely and quickly. Patients get better information about their options. And post-acute facilities can clearly show their availability and clinical capabilities.

Pete Martin
And the product is live—you’ve got people using it today.

Lindsay A. Joseph
Yes. We’re operating primarily in the Midwest right now, but we have a lot of activity happening across the Southwest, the West, and the South as well.

Our goal is national reach so this process becomes the new gold standard.

Pete Martin
Are you able to share any of the health systems or post-acute partners you’re working with?

Lindsay A. Joseph
Not right now. Organizations can be sensitive about promotional announcements. But I will say we’re working with fantastic partners who are deeply aligned with our mission to better serve their communities.

Pete Martin
You mentioned the Midwest. Are you deploying in Michigan yet?

Lindsay A. Joseph
We’re working toward it. We’re finalizing meetings to nail down timelines.

One thing we designed intentionally is ease of deployment. Hospitals can go live in about an hour, and post-acute facilities in about three hours. We wanted to build the product I wish vendors had shown me when I was a CFO—something that delivers value without an 18-month integration.

Pete Martin
Can you talk about the ROI a little? I know you’ve shared some data privately—what can you share publicly?

Lindsay A. Joseph
Right now we see a 96% acceptance rate. That means when patients choose a preferred facility, they’re accepted 96% of the time.

We also reduce hospital length of stay. Every extra day a patient remains in the hospital unnecessarily costs about $3,100 on average. In Florida alone last year, avoidable day costs reached about $550 million. Nationwide, it’s a multi-billion-dollar issue.

There are also operational savings. Highly paid clinicians spend a lot of time calling, faxing, and emailing to check whether placements are progressing. With BedConnect, they can simply check a dashboard.

Pete Martin
So the future at minimum is… no more faxing.

Lindsay A. Joseph
Exactly. Anything involving faxing in 2026 feels pretty wild.

Pete Martin
Let’s look five or ten years ahead. BedConnect is everywhere. Everyone’s using it. What impact does that have?

Lindsay A. Joseph
For me it comes back to putting the patient at the center of healthcare.

Patients should have clear choices about where they go next. Facilities shouldn’t be overwhelmed with irrelevant requests. Hospitals shouldn’t be guessing where beds exist.

There’s also a huge community impact. If someone from northern Michigan ends up hospitalized in Grand Rapids, they often get discharged to a facility near that hospital because that’s what the system can see.

But statistically, people recover better in their home communities surrounded by family. With better visibility, patients could return to facilities near home—even if they’re hours away.

So yes, BedConnect solves a very specific problem. But the ripple effects could reshape how this part of healthcare works.

Pete Martin
Love it.

If healthcare systems or post-acute providers want to learn more, what’s the website?

Lindsay A. Joseph
BedConnect.health.

And I’ll add that our partners are extremely satisfied. They love the team, the product, and the vision for where this process can go.

Pete Martin
For anyone listening, every time we talk with Lindsay she’s traveling somewhere—doing deployments, visiting sites, doing rounds.

Lindsay A. Joseph
Rounding.

Pete Martin
Right. See, I’m clearly not the healthcare expert here. But she’s constantly out in the field making it happen.

Let’s talk about the MSU Research Foundation. What role have they played in your journey?

Lindsay A. Joseph
They’ve had a tremendous impact.

PitchMI in particular gave us the opportunity to get on stage, share our mission, and connect with investors—including health systems. The team has also been great about making introductions and helping us identify the right conferences and connections.

Healthcare is still very relationship-driven. Companies succeed when they become trusted partners. Our clients see us that way because we’ve lived this experience ourselves—we’re not outsiders telling them how their processes should work.

The MSU Research Foundation has been incredibly supportive in helping us reach the right audiences and grow our mission.

Pete Martin
We try! Sometimes we can’t make every connection happen, but at least we try to open the door.

Lindsay A. Joseph
And I text you all the time asking, “What about this connection? What about that one?” You’ve always been willing to help or brainstorm ideas.

Pete Martin
That’s the goal—to be one of the most value-added investors on your cap table. If we can open a few doors, founders like you will run through them.

Now let’s talk about PitchMI. You’re one of four finalists heading into the championship on April 7.

Do you remember when you first heard about the competition?

Lindsay A. Joseph
I do. I saw your LinkedIn post—despite being terrible at social media.

Since starting the company, I’ve had to become more visible. Coming from corporate, I didn’t even know this startup ecosystem existed.

I reshared your post because I wanted to support you and support Michigan’s startup vision. Then I reached out, learned more, applied—and here we are.

Pete Martin
And you pitched in Grand Rapids and won $325,000. Since then we’ve been doing some fun founder programming.

What’s that experience been like?

Lindsay A. Joseph
Honestly, I’ve been really impressed.

Many accelerators run similar programming. What you’re doing feels different—it’s designed to help founders grow both professionally and personally.

My favorite part so far was the improv session. When you’re constantly pitching your company, everything becomes scripted. The improv session forced us to be silly and spontaneous.

At one point we had to co-pitch a completely made-up product. Josef and I absolutely nailed it.

Moments like that help prevent burnout and make the experience genuinely fun.

Pete Martin
We’ve been reviewing the video from that session and it’s fantastic. I can’t wait to release it.

Lindsay A. Joseph
I’d appreciate a sneak preview—maybe even a final say on a few cuts.

Pete Martin
Deal.

You also mentioned getting to know the other founders better. There may or may not be a secret group text.

My theory is that you started it.

Lindsay A. Joseph
I don’t know where you got that idea. The group chat could be called “We Love Pete Martin.” Or “Pete Martin Rocks.” Or “Mr. Michigan Is My Hero.”

But what stood out to me during filming was something people from outside Michigan noticed. They kept saying how friendly we all were.

And it’s not just Midwest nice. It’s genuine respect—even though we’re competing.

This ecosystem isn’t zero-sum. We all rise when we support each other.

Pete Martin
That’s such an important point. Founder culture in Michigan really is special. No matter where you go across the state, founders are willing to help each other.

Okay—two final questions.

What advice would you give someone starting a company in Michigan?

Lindsay A. Joseph
Be open to experiences and use the resources around you.

Every founder journey is different. Student founders, serial founders, corporate founders—we all start from different places.

I mentor a lot of people in the community, and I always tell them: you have to find your own path.

The biggest challenge is filtering advice. Too many voices telling you how to build your pitch deck, how to run your company—it becomes overwhelming.

Find one trusted advisor, maybe a backup. Listen to them. Filter everything else.

Otherwise you’ll spend all your time making pitch decks—and nobody enjoys that.

Pete Martin
Very true.

Last question: any advice for founders applying to pitch competitions like PitchMI?

Lindsay A. Joseph
Know your product inside and out—and know your “why.”

I’ve done well in pitch competitions because I can connect people emotionally to the problem BedConnect solves. Even if they’ve never experienced it, the light bulb goes on.

Have confidence. Adapt your pitch to the audience and time limit. And remember that at the early stage, investors are investing in the founder as much as the product.

They’re asking: can this person bring the vision to life?

Pete Martin
Love it. How can people follow what you’re doing?

Lindsay A. Joseph
Visit BedConnect.health or find us on LinkedIn. We post updates there regularly.

And please connect with me as well—some of the people who’ve reached out through LinkedIn have been incredibly helpful.

Pete Martin
Unspoken advice from Lindsay: even if you hate social media, you probably still need to post.

Lindsay A. Joseph
My board may or may not have made weekly posting one of my goals.

Pete Martin
Well, it’s working.

That’s it for today. We’ve been joined by Lindsay Joseph, founder of BedConnect. Thanks so much for joining us.

Lindsay A. Joseph
Thank you, Pete. I appreciate it.