Kyruus, a Boston, Massachusetts-based startup whose tech solutions help pair patients with providers, has raised $10 million in a new financing round.
The company said it will use the funds to expand its product development and delivery teams as it improves its platform and seeks to integrate with other organizations in the healthcare space. Recently, the startup has pursued collaborations with entities such as Salesforce and IBM Watson.
Kyruus’ ProviderMatch suite of solutions seeks to help health systems match patients with the right providers for their needs. Its scheduling and smart search tools simplify the appointment booking process and ensure consumers aren’t sent to the wrong doctor.
As CEO Graham Gardner noted in a news release:
We’re excited to cap off a momentous year for the company with new funding to support our next phase of growth. With patient access a growing strategic priority for health systems nationwide, we are now poised to extend both our platform and our partner ecosystem to keep our customers ahead of the curve.
As Gardner mentioned, Kyruus’ solutions confront a recurring problem in the healthcare space: patient access. A 2017 Merritt Hawkins survey found the average wait time for a physician appointment in 15 large U.S. metro markets is 24.1 days. And data from athenahealth determined “new” patients (those who haven’t visited their physician’s practice in at least three years) spend an average of 2.7 weeks waiting after calling for their first appointment.
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.
The company has more than 400 hospital clients, including University of Miami Health System, USF Health, Emory Healthcare. Providence St. Joseph Health, another customer, has invested in Kyruus through its venture capital fund, Providence Ventures.
Back in 2015, the Boston startup raised $25 million in a Series C round, which was led by New Leaf Venture Partners. Venrock, McKesson Ventures, Highland Capital Partners and Fidelity Biosciences also participated, among others.
Photo: abluecup, Getty Images
