WiserTogether, a digital health company that provides guidance for patients with costly health conditions to better understand what they need to do to improve and maintain their health, has raised fresh capital. It will
use the funding to expand its customer base across “key sectors of healthcare.”
New investors Merck Global Health Innovation Fund and Martin Ventures led the $9 million Series B round, according to a company statement.
Current investors, including Grotech Ventures, Harbert Venture Partners, 7Wire Ventures and Blue Heron Capital, and WiserTogether founder and CEO Shub Debgupta also participated in the funding round.
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WiserTogether bills itself as the flip side of a clinical decision support tool and is designed to give patients a better understanding of their treatment options in the context of their condition. For example, its treatment decision support tool Wiser Health helps users assess potential treatments to determine their best options. It factors 22 pieces of data it says have been proven to influence decisions such as clinical evidence, personal and popular preferences, cost and coverage. It focuses on 250 of the costliest health conditions by spend – particularly conditions for which patient choices can tip the balance between an expensive care option to a cheaper option. It also highlights some of the tests that are administered for patients who share their condition and the kind of questions they should be asking their physicians.
In phone interview with Debgupta, he said right now, it’s solution is designed around payers and health plans. But it’s in the process of adding provider customers.
“It is moving medicine from one size fits all and trial and error to more personalized care.”
Asked what were the most sought-after condition guidance on its website, Gupta said
back pain, optional surgery, diabetes, heart diseases, stress depression, optional joint surgery for sports injuries.
He noted that back pain is a classic example because patients in pain think back surgery would provide relief, but they may be unaware of the success rate of these surgeries, which might give them pause to consider less invasive options.
It is planning to add other conditions to its platform, such as hip replacement to give users a better sense of what to expect for different treatments. It will also be adding gastrointestinal care since there are a lot of options and variations around, as well as colon cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer and infectious diseases.
The company has been in expansion mode this year. It has inked collaboration deals with MDLive and Truven Health Analytics. Earlier this year the company added Tomer Frey as CTO. He had previously worked at Trizetto as vice president of product development. The integrated healthcare management technology provider was recently snapped up by Cognizant in a $2.7 billion deal. Last year it added the former CEO and former president of Allscripts to its board of trustees.
Update: This article has been updated with an interview with WiserTogether CEO Shub Debgupta
