Startup Yuvo Health announced Tuesday that it has raised $7.3 million to support its work with federally qualified health centers. The seed round of funding was led by early-stage venture fund AlleyCorp, with AV8 Ventures, New York Ventures, Brooklyn Bridge Ventures and angel investors including Dr. Melynda Barnes, chief medical officer at Ro, also participating.
New York City-based Yuvo Health offers administrative and managed-care contracting services to FQHCs, which provide primary care for underserved populations.
Yuvo Health said the funds will be leveraged to prove the efficacy of its initial program in downstate New York and expand in that market. The health tech company, which launched a year ago in January 2021, is recruiting FQHCs to participate in its network, providing clinical wraparound and administrative services for their FQHC partners, and establishing value-based care shared savings contracts with Medicaid-managed care plans throughout the downstate region. Upon the success of the initial market, the company is planning on expanding into the rest of New York State as well as some key state markets – namely, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, said Cesar Herrera, CEO and co-founder of Yuvo Health.
Increasingly, payment for medical services is being tied to the quality of care and shifting away from a volume-based, fee-for-service model. But some healthcare organizations are better positioned than others to make that transition. The services Yuvo Health provides to federally qualified health centers will help the centers unlock revenue streams via value-based care, the company said.
“Many FQHCs, unfortunately, are either too small or do not have the administrative resources in place to either contract for shared savings or meet the really rigorous quality and total cost of care targets that are associated with the contracts to achieve savings,” Herrera explains. “So that’s where we come into play to eliminate all of those administrative and regulatory barriers that would have otherwise hindered their ability to gain access to this additional revenue.”
In the months ahead, Yuvo Heath said it plans to expand its team to focus on quality analytics, care coordination and risk adjustment. The company is also broadening its leadership in key areas, including product, engineering and population-health strategy, the company said. Throughout January, Yuvo Health is hosting informational webinars for FQHCs.
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.
“FQHCs care for nearly 30 million patients and have played a critical role in the COVID-19 pandemic response in underserved communities,” Dr. Brenton Fargnoli, managing partner at AlleyCorp Healthcare Fund, who joins Yuvo Health’s board, said in a statement.
Investments like this one will empower FQHCs to modernize their technology infrastructure and expand services, including at-home care, telehealth and behavioral-health support for patients, Fargnoli said. “These critical resources promote high-touch, well-coordinated care, which allow FQHCs to successfully execute on value-based contracts and, most importantly, provide quality care to communities in need.”
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