Startups

Seattle startup rakes in $2M for hypertension remote monitoring system

The company, Sentinel Healthcare, plans to use the money to further develop its product and scale its customer base and patient population.

Sentinel Healthcare, a company offering a platform for remote monitoring and management of patients with hypertension, has raised $2 million in a round led by PSL Ventures.

The Seattle-based startup previously scored funding as the winner of the Seattle Angel Conference XIII, an investor-led startup competition that connects entrepreneurs and angel investors. Y Combinator also awarded Sentinel with a non-dilutive grant.

The latest funding will help Sentinel further develop its product. In responses to emailed questions, founder and CEO Nirav Shah, a neurologist, added that the seed round will allow his organization to scale its customer base and patient population.

The company’s offering pairs a platform for FDA-approved wearable blood pressure devices with a remote monitoring service to evaluate patient data.

Patients get a Bluetooth-enabled blood pressure cuff as well as Sentinel’s mobile app. As they use the cuff, their data is collected and interpreted by Sentinel’s remote monitoring team, Shah said. Clinicians then receive the information in an actionable format so they can help at-risk patients and intervene when necessary.

Shah noted that Sentinel’s patients have reached blood pressure control in an average of eight to 10 weeks.

The Seattle company manages more than 500 patients with hypertension in three states. Its clients include physician-run clinics in Arizona, Florida and Tennessee. Shah said it’s in the process of onboarding clinics in California as well.

Sentinel’s business model involves partnering with said clinics to remotely monitor their patients with high blood pressure.

“Sentinel then bills Medicare and insurance companies for these services, tapping an underutilized funding Medicare program known as Chronic Care Management (CCM), which reimburses healthcare providers for remotely managing patients with chronic conditions,” Shah said. “We then share those revenues with our customers.”

Looking ahead, Shah listed a few of his startup’s goals for 2019. For one, it intends to build its presence in Seattle. The company also plans to increase its customer base to reach 10,000 patients. That goal necessitates growing its remote monitoring team, which currently includes seven nurses, as well. Finally, Sentinel wants to expand its reach into other disease areas. Potential options include heart failure and post-op care.

Photo: lucky336, Getty Images

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