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Modernized, personalized care plans draw investors into Filament Labs’ $1M seed round

Filament Labs, one of a handful of digital health startups leveraging smartphones to connect patients and their doctors during the last mile of care, will be able to build onto its flagship product thanks to a $1 million seed round. The Austin, Texas-based company markets a digital care plan delivery platform called Patient IO. Physicians […]

Filament Labs, one of a handful of digital health startups leveraging smartphones to connect patients and their doctors during the last mile of care, will be able to build onto its flagship product thanks to a $1 million seed round.

The Austin, Texas-based company markets a digital care plan delivery platform called Patient IO. Physicians use it to build personalized care plans for patients, which are then delivered to patients’ phones through daily tasks, reminders and educational content.

Mercury Fund, a seed and early-stage venture capital firm in Houston, led the round. Corinthian Health Services in Texas and Arcadia Home Care & Staffing, which are deploying Patient IO, also contributed.

“We’ve been live within Corinthian’s 20 clinics for the past two months, guiding their patients through their pre- and post-infusion care plans,” CEO Jason Bornhorst wrote in a blog post today. “Patient IO launches next month within Arcadia, empowering their caregivers with mobile care plans inside the patient’s home.”

For physicians, the technology provides a way to monitor how patients are carrying out their treatment plans, and alert them if they’re straying too far from the plan.

According to Filament Labs, the technology can also convert multiple care plans from different providers into a unified set of tasks for the patient. The company also offers a full set of APIs so that Patient IO can be integrated with existing care management software.

In a country where 117 million people have at least one chronic disease, mobile health holds the promise of being able to reach patients in their daily lives, where their conditions manifest themselves most.

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A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma

A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.

Filament Labs says it built its platform in collaboration with patients and providers and is laser-focused on creating a user experience that will keep physicians and patients coming back.

CEO Bornhorst wrote in his blog that this funding will allow the company to expand the platform with mobile-web and email touch points, so that it can reach patients without smartphones.

Bornhorst was formerly director of product management at Mobiata, which builds mobile travel apps. He founded Filament Labs in March of 2013 with Chief Product Officer Colin Anawaty and CTO Brian Gambs.

They previously raised $160K as part of their participation in the Techstars program in Austin. According to a statement from the company, a number of angel investors supported the seed round as well: David Cohen (Techstars), Walt Winshall (PatientsLikeMe), Marc Weiser (RPM Ventures), Wendy Smith (Healthcare), Dr. Farnam Jahanian (University of Michigan), Dean Drako (Eagle Eye Networks), Eric Simone (ClearBlade), Jeff Schox (Schox Law), Larry Abrams (Author), Rick Borenstein (Sequoia Partners) and Russell Hinds (RSH Ventures).