Encounter Telehealth, an Omaha, Nebraska-based telepsychiatry startup that wants to improve access to psychological services for underserved communities, is raising roughly $1 million, according to a Form D filing on the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission’s website. Jennifer Amis, Encounter Telehealth’s CEO, confirmed the fundraise in a phone interview with MedCity News.
Amis named Prairie Ventures as one of the company’s backers, noting the investment firm also took part in the company’s previous funding round. Prairie Ventures Cofounder Dr. Rod Markin is on Encounter Telehealth’s board of directors.
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Encounter Telehealth contracts with skilled nursing facilities and other types of long-term care facilities. A certified provider, the company also owns an outpatient clinic in western Nebraska, Amis said. Most of the company’s business comes from referrals and the majority of the patients Encounter serves are on Medicare.
Although the Affordable Care Act increased the number of people with insurance with the intention of making healthcare services, including mental health services, more accessible, the reality is that rural areas don’t have the same access to psychiatrists as more populated areas do. So companies like Encounter Telehealth see a need for their services to help plug this gap, if not solving the problem completely.
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