Health IT, Startups

TouchCare’s $4 million fundraise coincides with telemedicine app launch

A telemedicine company that seeks to connect patients with physicians through a videoconferencing and scheduling […]

A telemedicine company that seeks to connect patients with physicians through a videoconferencing and scheduling app for smartphones and tablets made its market debut last week after initiating a beta test with early adopters in the Spring, including Mount Sinai. TouchCare also raised $4 million, according to a Form D filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. It came from one strategic investor — Mosaic Health Solutions — presumably to support the roll out of its platform.

So far the app is only available on the iOS network but an Android version is in the offing.

The Durham, North Carolina company views its service as filling a few different needs, such as providing an after hours service for parents deciding whether a family member needs to see a physician. It also wants customers to use its service for follow-up care, test results, medication refills, and communication between doctors. In an emailed statement, CEO Damian Gilbert said it’s beneficial for use “with seniors, patients with poor mobility, parents with young children and as a better alternative to a variety of ‘call me if’ situations.”

The company’s management team previously worked for investment management firms, including Gilbert, who comes from boutique investment bank, Allen & Co. to the CFO Joel Kristoferson and Marcus Capone, the vice president of business development, who both hail from Fortress Investment Group. That could help with the company’s future fundraising needs.

Although reimbursement issues have hampered wider adoption, several companies have developed telemedicine as a concierge service for which customers pay out of pocket in exchange for the immediacy of an appointment. Although this direct to consumer approach has been popular with some companies others have preferred to provide their service through a business partner like a hospital, physician group, insurer or drugstore chain. Even though private insurers have been warming up to the concept, the video conferencing aspect of telemedicine is still relatively early in its development.

Update: An earlier version of this post listed Marcus Capone as a partner based on his LinkedIn page, but that was a graphical error.

Update 2: This story was updated Dec 10 to include new information about the deal.

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