Karen Perks is the founder and CEO of Mikare Health, a company born from a harrowing personal experience that highlighted systemic failures within the healthcare industry.
Her journey into health tech was not driven by a background in medicine, but by the necessity of a mother who saw her daughter misdiagnosed by 30 different doctors.
After watching her daughter suffer through 200 seizures in 10 months and endure periods of unconsciousness lasting up to 24 hours, Karen realised that the clinical process was failing to capture the vital longitudinal data necessary for an accurate diagnosis.
With a professional background in electronic banking and innovation dating back to 1993, Karen possessed a process-driven mindset. She had spent months manually collecting data on her daughter’s health, eventually compiling a 284-page report complete with pivot tables and trend analysis. Despite the detail, this ‘business report’ of her daughter’s health was largely dismissed by clinicians. Karen’s goal was to solve the issue of cognitive bias in clinical settings and provide patients with a tool that gives them a voice, ensuring their personal health data travels with them across different providers and jurisdictions.
Outcome: From "Just an App" to Essential Infrastructure
By leveraging the power of AI and mobile technology, Karen developed a solution that allows patients to record real-time data, take photos for clinical context, and generate evidence-based health reports. A turning point for Mikare Health was the strategic decision to enter industry awards early in the product's lifecycle. Despite the product not being fully live at the time, securing an international award provided immediate credibility and leverage in high-level business conversations
The impact of this recognition was transformative for both the business and Karen’s own leadership mindset. Winning an award alongside major international tech companies neutralised the perceived disadvantage of being a small, Australian-based team. It shifted the internal branding of the product from being "just an app" to being recognised as a critical infrastructure layer in healthcare. This newfound confidence allowed Karen to stop apologising for her innovative solution and instead stand as an equal to large-scale health organisations. The award has since been integrated into all marketing materials, opening doors for strategic growth in markets like the United Kingdom.
Result: Awards and Recognition
Karen Perks and Mikare Health have achieved significant milestones in their pursuit of excellence and credibility, including:
Message from the Client: Innovation and Advocacy
The drive behind Mikare Health is rooted in the belief that patients and their families know their own health better than anyone else, yet they are often the least heard in the room. Karen reflects on the power of providing evidence rather than just anecdotes:
"I see AI as a saviour to our family. It saved my daughter's life... it provides context to the questions and the reality of health. If I'm not there, the doctor would be under the perception that she eats a normal dinner. Now, we take a photo and show them the plate."
Karen encourages other founders not to wait for "perfection" before seeking recognition. She views the awards process as a way to honour the hard work and validate the solution’s value to society:
"The award is like that silent friend who's always there supporting you from behind. It gives you the confidence to stand there and go, 'This is something that you need.' Awards neutralise businesses; it becomes irrelevant how big you are or how many staff you have."
Looking back at her career, her advice to her younger self - and to other innovators - is to lean into the technical side of things without fear:
"I would go back to 1993 and take more notice of the coding. I would not be afraid of breaking the computer or pushing the boundaries."
Contact
To learn more about Karen Perks and the healthcare infrastructure being built at Mikare Health, visit the following links:
