Mobile health delivery startup, Dispatch Health has raised $3.6 million in seed funding to expand its current services, as well as to administer onsite, advanced medical care, improve outcomes and reduce healthcare costs. The Denver, Colorado-based company uses mobile cars staffed by acute care clinicians, equipped with a CLIA-certified lab, medical equipment, medications and IV’s, WiFi connectivity providing access to the health information exchange, and a network of established mobile radiology providers to administer state-of-the-art care in the convenience of the home, office or senior care facility.
Investors that contributed to the seed round include EMP Holdings, LLC, the majority shareholder in one of the nation’s largest physician-owned emergency medicine companies, and previous investor in iTriage (acquired in 2011 by Aetna), and StatHealth (acquired in 2015 by Teledoc). Its chairman, Dr. Peter Hudson, also founder and former CEO of iTriage, has joined the Dispatch Health team as a board member and investor. Dispatch Health hopes to position itself as a leader in the home care revolution and is designed to increase access to care, decrease costs and improve outcomes.
How It Works
Dispatch Health, formerly True North Health Navigation, was founded in 2013 by two former mobile health executives, Dr. Mark Prather and Kevin Riddleberger. The company delivers care through multiple channels, including local municipalities and 911-first response systems, health systems, employers and payers, and senior care facilities. When a 911 call or consumer request is placed, appropriate vetting through advanced clinical algorithms takes place to determine if a Dispatch Health team can serve the patient’s acute needs – illness or injury – and a medical team is dispatched to the site of care. Dispatch Health clinicians are the same high-quality clinicians patients would see in their local emergency department.
A recent RAND study estimated that 37 percent of all ER visits were likely unnecessary and could be cared for in a lower cost care setting. Results from Dispatch Health’s pilot, with more than 400 patients and $1 million saved, demonstrated its model of mobile onsite acute care reduces unnecessary costs, as well as helps patients exit a very costly 911 system safely and without bounce backs to the emergency department. Care in the home is predicted to increase nearly 25 percent over the next 10 years.
Business Model Overview
Dispatch Health is contracted with all major payers in Colorado and bills insurance directly for the care provided. In addition, an affordable flat fee is provided for uninsured patients. Its services are the broadest available in the market, and include:
– Mobile “treatment units” with advanced treatment capabilities including IV medications, IV fluids, laceration repair, splinting, urinary catheter and feeding tube replacement
– 1st mobile CLIA-certified lab with the ability to perform immediate laboratory testing in the home or workplace
– An advanced medication formulary that allows for definitive treatment of a wide range of illnesses in the home or workplace
– Vetted clinical treatment algorithms that support safe, high-quality care for a broad spectrum of diseases in the home or workplace
– Low-cost, outpatient imaging partnerships
– Integration with Colorado’s Health Information Exchange, which allows providers access into their patient’s past health history, across the entire health ecosystem, thereby decreasing redundant care and resulting in better clinical decision making
– Closed-loop reporting to primary care providers and care teams resulting in improved patient outcomes and follow up
Dispatch Health is actively exploring the next markets for expansion, and plans to increase its footprint in early 2016.
