Health IT, Startups

Zipnosis raises $17M to accelerate growth of virtual service, add chronic conditions

Safeguard Scientifics led the round and Ascension Ventures, the investment arm of the Catholic health system, participated.

zipnosis artA telehealth company that developed a white labeled virtual care service has raised $17 million in a Series A round, according to a company statement. In a phone interview with Zipnosis CEO Jon Pearce, he said most of the funding would be allocated to sales and marketing.

“We have gotten validation from institutional investors. This was about accelerating growth.”

Safeguard Scientifics led the round and Ascension Ventures, the investment arm of the Catholic health system, participated. Existing investors that participated in the round include Fairview Health Services, Hyde Park Venture Partners, Arthur Ventures, Waterline Ventures and Omphalos Ventures.

Patients pay a service fee of about $25-$35 to use the service. They are asked a series of questions, an algorithm processes their responses, and the system uses that information to produce a clinical note, which is directed to the most appropriate physician. The idea is that patients get their query addressed in a few minutes through email, or by phone or video interaction if necessary.

Pearce said its approach has focused on 90 simple acute primary care conditions. Among them, common medical conditions such as sinus infections, bladder infections, pink eye, and colds. But he said Zipnosis is beginning to expand to chronic conditions. By the end of the first quarter, he said it would add hypertension and hyperlipidemia to the illnesses it covers.

Zipnosis works with 17 health systems, primarily academic and integrated systems. Among them are Fairview Health Services, University of Alabama-Birmingham, Group Health, and John Muir Health.

Since 2010, the company has expanded from four to 30 staff.

Although Pearce is quick to point out that its approach doesn’t rely heavily on phone or video interaction, Zipnosis’ website states that phone and video tools are included in Zipnosis and visits are “two to four times faster than any other video solution on the market….patients are escalated to phone and video care only when it’s clinically appropriate or required by regulations.”

The goal is to improve efficiency so that clinicians an devote more time to more complex cases.

Photo: Bigstock Photo

 

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