Aver Informatics -- a data management platform that simplifies the healthcare reimbursement process -- announced today that it has received $8.5 million in Series A funding led by Drive Capital and GE Ventures. Additionally, Aver has secured two additional customers: University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Molina Healthcare.

'For the last three-plus years, we've been working hard to create a sustainable change in healthcare. Today is a pivotal moment for us that will help transform the healthcare reimbursement process, providing higher quality care to patients at a substantially lower cost to payers,' said Kurt Brenkus, Founder and CEO of Aver Informatics.

Taking a radically different approach to healthcare reimbursement, Aver Informatics analyzes the vast amounts of data already available through current claims systems to compartmentalize patient care services into bundled payments. These bundles -- known as 'episodes of care' -- create standard protocols for patient treatment and reduce the delivery of unnecessary, expensive services. Transforming the cumbersome 'fee for service' system into an 'episodic care' system, Aver cuts costs for insurance companies, improves efficiency for medical providers and simplifies the payment process for patients.

Implementing bundled payments using existing claims systems infrastructure used to take years, but Aver's solution significantly shortens the time to value for customers, reducing it to mere weeks. In recognition of its innovation, Aver was recently recognized by Gartner as a 'Cool Vendor for Healthcare Payers' in 2014.

'Aver delivers an innovative approach to Medicaid payment reform. Our health plans in New Mexico and Ohio have sophisticated episodic care definitions that are tailored to improving cost and quality outcomes in our most vulnerable populations,' said Irene Krokos, MD, Chief Medical Officer for Molina Healthcare of New Mexico. 'Aver has a unique capacity to dynamically adjust the definition of a bundle to accommodate variations between state bundling programs. Additionally, provider engagement in payment reform is critical for success. Aver offers providers the ability to conceptualize bundles in a meaningful way.'

'By leveraging technology we can align best with federal and state initiatives toward value-based payments. In Ohio, we are working in collaboration with the Ohio Department of Medicaid and the Ohio Office of Health Transformation to further the state's objective of providing value based health care by implementing a new episode-based payment model,' said Martin Portillo, MD, Chief Medical Officer for Molina Healthcare of Ohio. 'The goal is to develop a program that would incentivize and pay our providers while improving quality and managing costs.'

'As an integrated delivery system, UPMC has very high standards when it comes to technology that must address the needs of both our payer and provider services organization,' said Sandra E. McAnallen, Senior Vice President of Clinical Affairs and Quality Performance at UPMC. 'The Aver platform is a true end-to-end solution that has the ability to create both retrospective and prospective payment models. They have an extremely user-friendly layer of reporting and analytics to drive performance and quality throughout our organization.'

The new funding will be used to accelerate growth, as well as expand Aver Informatics' world-class engineering and sales teams.

'We're thrilled to partner with GE Ventures to support and accelerate Aver's growth,' said Mark Kvamme, Co-Founder of Drive Capital. 'Kurt and his team are building a game-changing product that we think will revolutionize the healthcare payments landscape, the exact type of real-world solution that we've come to expect from innovative entrepreneurs in the Midwest.'

Aver Informatics, a StartUp Health Academy company, was selected by GE and StartUp Health to be part of its exclusive entrepreneur program, which accelerates growth for digital health companies.

'Healthcare innovation isn't just about advances in scientific processes and devices. We are always seeking to partner with companies that provide practical solutions that drive down the costs for all of us to be healthy,' said Jason Sibley, Director, GE Ventures Healthcare. 'It is important for companies to provide affordable and competitive healthcare benefits to employees. We are impressed with Aver's use of data exploration to navigate the healthcare system from not just a business point of view, but the consumer and patient view as well.'

Gartner, Cool Vendors for Healthcare Payers, 2014, Jeff Cribbs, April 5, 2014.
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

About Aver Informatics

Aver Informatics' data analytics platform radically simplifies the healthcare reimbursement process. Through analyzing the vast amounts of 'fee for service' data already available in current healthcare claims systems, Aver automatically packages patient care services into episodic bundles, making the payment process simple for each the payer, provider and patient. For more information, visit http://www.averinformatics.com.

About Drive Capital

Drive Capital invests in innovative technology, healthcare and consumer companies in the Midwest. We are looking for innovative entrepreneurs addressing big market opportunities. Our goal is to partner with entrepreneurs that have audacious goals and strive to build large sustainable companies. For more information, visit http://www.DriveCapital.com.

About GE Ventures

GE Ventures is committed to identifying, scaling and accelerating ideas that will make the world work better. Focused on the areas of software, advanced manufacturing, energy and healthcare, GE Ventures helps entrepreneurs and start-ups succeed by providing access to GE's technical expertise, capital and opportunities for commercialization through GE's global network of business, customers and partners. GE Ventures offers an unparalleled level of resources through its Global Research Center, including: 35,000 engineers; 5,000 research scientists; 8,000 software professionals; as well as 40,000 sales, marketing and development resources in over 100 countries. GE healthymagination fund is the healthcare investing arm of GE Ventures. For more information, please visit http://www.ge.com/company/ge-ventures.