This post has been updated from an earlier version.
RetraceHealth, a healthcare startup that’s a hybrid of a service for primary care house calls and a telemedicine service provided by nurse practitioners, has raised $1 million from a group of investors that includes Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, HealthEast Care System in Minnesota, and McKesson Ventures, according to a company statement. RetraceHealth CEO Thompson Aderinkomi confirmed the amount in a phone interview.
RetraceHealth charges $60 a pop for video visits, $150 for home visits and $190 for a home visit with a lab service to assess things such as cholesterol levels, diabetes and high blood pressure. It also claims to provide an X-ray service. It claims to be able to provide a telemedicine appointment within half an hour of a request.
Aderinkomi said it plans to use the funding to support an expansion beyond Minnesota, although it currently serves patients in western Wisconsin as well. He said that its company does not have a lot of competition with other telemedicine and concierge care startups, which have focused on bigger cities on the coasts. Although he declined to specify where it wants to expand, he estimated that about half the states support having a nurse practitioner delivering primary care.
Aderinkomi clarified that all of the nurse practitioners that it works with are RetraceHealth employees. Although Minneapolis-St Paul and the seven county metro region is a big source of business it also serves patients in Duluth and other areas.
He said that its patients are diverse and don’t reflect a specific profile.
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.
“Our oldest patient is 93 and our youngest patient is a few months old. Some are using us more for wellness, others for chronic conditions or a recurring ear infection, for example.”
The startup has found a way to overcome one of the biggest challenges with these concierge care services: reimbursement. Through a partnership with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, RetraceHealth will offer its services to BCBS’s members throughout Minnesota. Aderinkomi said that it will be a network provider for the insurer. He also added that it would also begin to explore partnerships with national payers such as UnitedHealthcare.
There are many companies crowding into the telemedicine market and others providing doctor housecalls on demand. Among the challenges they face in growing their business are getting enough certified physicians in each state, the logistical challenge of getting doctors to the right address and the diverse state regulations for how telemedicine and healthcare is practiced.
“To really reshape healthcare, it is not about slapping technology on it; it’s about changing the business model and making it consumer-focused and consumer-driven,” Aderinkomi said. He said the company also faces the challenge of changing how primary care is perceived and adding more value to it. He also noted that the $168 billion primary care market is very fragmented with no big players dominating it.
Asked if he thought the company would eventually offer just concierge care or telemedicine, Aderinkomi answered this way:
“I see both as integral to the business. Whether we need to do both parts of that is up for debate.”
Photo: Flickr
