Digital Health Company to Enhance Functionality, Accelerate Commercialization of Referral Intelligence Platform
SAN DIEGO, July 21, 2016 – AristaMD, a technology-enabled service company providing eConsults and a suite of related specialist referral support tools, announced today it completed $11 million in financing. The Series A round was led by Avalon Ventures with participation from Correlation Ventures. The proceeds will be used to accelerate commercialization and further enhance functionality of the company’s proprietary Referral Intelligence Platform.
As many as 60 percent of specialist visits are routine consults that do not require an in-person visit.[1],[2] Unnecessary care results in $10 billion annually in costs, causes delays in care planning and exacerbates access challenges for the most vulnerable patients.[3] AristaMD’s Referral Intelligence Platform is designed to significantly reduce these costs and improve access to specialist care by facilitating rapid collaboration between primary care providers and specialists. The Referral Intelligence Platform includes a two-part process that consists of comprehensive referral work-up checklists licensed exclusively from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and a simple, effective electronic consult (eConsult) platform. The AristaMD solution is proven to reduce overall specialist visits by 30 percent or more while also reducing ER visits and hospital admissions.
“We’re thrilled that Avalon and Correlation share our vision to provide a solution that optimizes referrals in today’s era of value-based healthcare,” said Rebecca Cofinas, president and CEO of AristaMD. “Our investors’ proven track record of success with building transformational companies is instrumental for our continued growth and success.”
AristaMD’s clients range from small rural providers to large county health systems in urban environments. The Referral Intelligence Platform has been designed to be flexible to fit each individual client’s workflow, technology, and clinical needs.
“The AristaMD platform is the most comprehensive solution in the market,” Cofinas said. “Our platform saves the average provider years of precious time and resources by providing a strong foundation that can still be tailored for each unique environment.”
“Referrals to medical specialists have nearly doubled over the last decade, and that figure is set to double again in the next five years,” said Jay Lichter, Ph.D., managing director at Avalon Ventures and chairman of the board at AristaMD. “AristaMD’s Referral Intelligence Platform is a unique and innovative solution to improve appropriate patient access and significantly reduce costs. We are pleased to support AristaMD’s top-notch team as they continue their drive to the next level of growth and commercial success.”
About Arista MD
AristaMD is a digital health company focused on assisting primary care providers in offering expanded specialty care through high-impact tools and solutions to reduce unnecessary referrals. Designed by practicing physicians, the AristaMD Referral Intelligence Platform combines clinical guidelines developed at UCSF, specialist eConsults and robust data collection and reporting into one easy-to-use software platform that is interoperable with core EMRs. AristaMD partners with clients to use the company’s platform for their own specialists or can directly provide eConsults through its comprehensive panel of board-certified specialists. AristaMD is at the forefront of designing exceptional tools to enable physicians to collaborate, promoting efficiency and optimal clinical care.
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[1] Horner K, Wagner D, Tufano J. Electronic consultations between primary and specialty care clinicians: early insights. Commonwealth Fund Issue Brief. 2011 Oct.
[2] Michael L. Barnett, MD; Zirui Song, BA; Bruce E. Landon, MD, MBA, Trends in Physician Referrals in the United States, 1999-2009.
[3] American Medical Association. Jan 23, 2012, Vol 172, No.1; Michelle Andrews, Doctors estimate $6.8 billion in unnecessary medical tests. The Washington Post. Published: October 31, 2011.
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