VCs pump $8m into virtual heart health clinic

VCs pump $8m into virtual heart health clinic LT Staff

Cardiac health company Ventricle Health has secured $8 million in seed financing to advance its virtual cardiology clinic network in the United States. Offering virtual therapy, remote patient monitoring, and patient education, the company aims to help patients lead healthier and longer lives while simultaneously reducing healthcare costs.

Ventricle claims that half of cardiovascular patients face challenges in accessing timely care from a cardiologist, and only 1% of the eligible heart failure population is currently receiving optimal titrated dosages for guideline-directed medical therapies. In addition, the company says that accessibility challenges in securing timely appointments with cardiologists after hospital discharge mean that the average wait time for a cardiology appointment in the US currently stands at 26 days.

Founded by heart failure cardiologist Dr Dan Bensimhon, Ventricle is on a mission is to revolutionize the delivery of cardiac care in the US. Ventricle’s virtual care model revolves around the application of guideline-directed medical therapy pathways, allowing patients to access at-home cardiology care within as little as three days.

“Our foundational service lines offer a rapid path for either payers or value-based provider groups to connect heart failure patients to high quality cardiology services and provides a model for cardiologists to effectively manage more patients,” said Bensimhon. “Study after study has shown that getting heart failure patients on appropriate guideline-directed medical therapy can dramatically improve health outcomes and lead to marked reductions in costs and improvements in quality of life in just weeks – yet typically less than 20% of our patients are on these medications even when they come out of the hospital. Ventricle is here to change that.”

The new funding will enable Ventricle to expand its heart failure management therapeutic model, collaborating with value-based care provider groups and payers to streamline cardiovascular care and reduce associated healthcare costs. The company expects these costs will surpass $70 billion by 2030, making heart failure the second-largest expenditure category after renal failure.

Furthermore, Ventricle says that employers are grappling with escalating health costs due to the increasing prevalence of heart failure diagnoses in the aging workforce. The company claims its model has the potential to cut the average annual cost of heart failure care by 30-50%.

Ventricle currently provides virtual and home-based clinical services in collaboration with Accountable Care Organizations, primary care practices, and their payer partners in several states, including the Mid-Atlantic, Texas, Ohio, and Florida, with plans to expand into additional markets in the near future.

The funding round was led by RA Capital Management and supported by Waterline Ventures, among others.

“We spent considerable time looking across companies operating in the cardiovascular care space. said Anurag Kondapalli, Principal at RA Capital Management. “Rather than purely focusing on a technology-based solution, Ventricle Health stood out to our team as the unique clinical leader poised to offer ACOs and payers a rapidly deployable, full turn-key solution that can deliver outsized value for their partners.”

Photograph: Weedezign_photo/Envato

The post VCs pump $8m into virtual heart health clinic appeared first on Longevity.Technology - Latest News, Opinions, Analysis and Research.