Care Coordination Startup Raises $31.6 Million, Adds New HHAs

Fresh off raising $31.6 million from investors, a startup focused on improving care coordination is adding four new home health agencies to its network in Vermont.

Boston-based PatientPing Inc. has created a network of more than 15,000 health care providers in six states since its founding in 2013. The providers in the network receive a “ping” whenever and wherever their patients receive care; the idea is that this keeps all the various providers involved in a patient’s care up to speed and able to collaborate.

Since April 2016, Vermont Information Technology Leaders (VITL)—the nonprofit operating the state’s health information exchange (HIE)—has been providing PatientPing with admission, discharge and transfer information for all of Vermont’s hospitals. This has resulted in more than 8,000 “pings” a month to providers in the state, according to VITL.

Now, encounter messages from four home health agencies also will be available to the PatientPing community in Vermont, VITL announced on Dec. 13.

The four contributing agencies are: Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice, Franklin County Home Health Agency, VNA & Hospice of the Southwest Region / Rutland Area VNA & Hospice, Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire, and Visiting Nurse Association of Chittenden and Grand Isle Counties.

“Home health providers play a critical role on their patients’ care teams,” said Julia Sanders, market operations manager with PatientPing, in a press release. “Notifying providers that their patients have initiated home care provides peace of mind and ensures that care coordination does not fall to the patient following a health event. Reciprocally, home health aides can better direct their time and resources upon being notified that one of their patients has unexpectedly returned to the ER or hospital.”

Further expansion

High-profile Silicon Valley firm Andreessen Horowitz and Boston-based Leerink Transformation Partners (LTP) led the $31.6 millionSeries B funding for PatientPing, bringing the total funding amount to $41.2 million, the startup announced Dec. 6.

PatientPing intends to use the capital to expand into new geographies. It currently has a presence in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and New Hampshire.

The company also plans to at least double the size of its current 50-person workforce, the Boston Globe reported.

Written by Tim Mullaney