Startups

RubiconMD uses $4M Series A round to expand product development, add employer customers

Waterline Ventures led the Series A round with participation from Dioko Health Ventures, a North Carolina based fund managed by Nashville-based FCA Venture Partners and Alma Mundi Fund.

RubiconMD Co-founders Gil Addo, left, and Carlos Reines (Photo: Esther Quintana)

RubiconMD Co-founders Gil Addo, left, and Carlos Reines (Photo: Esther Quintana)

Health IT startup RubiconMD, which developed a technology platform to curb “unnecessary” specialist visits, has raised a $4 million Series A round. It will use the funding to add new products, harness data collection to generate useful insights for clients and expand its customer base, particularly employers with primary care physicians onsite, RubiconMD CEO and Co-founder Gil Addo said in a phone interview.

He also noted that it has added an app extension of its web-based platform.

Waterline Ventures led the Series A round with participation from Dioko Health Ventures, a North Carolina based fund managed by Nashville-based FCA Venture Partners and Alma Mundi Fund. The Blueprint Health accelerator grad previously raised a seed round at the end of 2014 which saw participation from athenahealth and former Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida CEO Bob Lufrano. RubiconMD has taken part in athenahealth’s More Disruption Please accelerator.

RubiconMD’s platform lets primary care physicians identify specialists for consults based on ratings, cost and experience. It allows them to share relevant patient information with specialists and receive opinions and recommendations based on that data, to help primary care physicians make more informed decisions about patient care.

Addo said RubiconMD has integrated its platform with four electronic health record providers, including athenahealth.

To date, the digital health business covers 30 specialties such as cardiology, endocrinology to obstetrics and has a presence in 26 states.

Earlier this year it embarked on a content partnership with Everyday Health and Addo said it provides a physician-facing educational tool through the content provider’s MedPage Today channel. The content uses data collected from specialist consults and the recommended treatment pathways. Addo noted that this kind of partnership is indicative of the value it can derive from its data.

He added that it plans to add staff across account management, clinical support, and product management.

Asked to quantify the effectiveness of its platform, Addo said: “More than two-thirds of cases on our platform improve care plans in a meaningful way.”

Asked to drill down a little more, Addo said: “In one-third of cases, our technology negates a visit to a specialist. But in others, it has helped primary care physicians make sure the patient gets the right specialist…We are not focused on sending patients to the lowest cost specialist, but the right one. It is more like a patient may be planning to see a neurosurgeon and it may be better for them to see a psychiatrist.”

He added: “The takeaway from this financing is we want to support great primary care. Our goal is to develop tools and services to support great primary care.

Photo: Flickr

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