Bright.md, developer of a virtual care solution to improve healthcare efficiencies and outcomes while reducing costs for many of the most common health conditions, today announced it has closed an $8 million Series B funding round led by B Capital Group, a global venture capital firm focused on investing in pioneering healthcare and enterprise software companies, along with participation from existing investor Seven Peaks Ventures. The new funding gives the Portland, Ore.-based startup a total of $11.5 million across all rounds.
The funding will support continued market development for SmartExam™, Bright.md's cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) software, including new implementations of healthcare delivery systems, increased sales and marketing efforts, expanded client engagements and additional hiring.
"It's exciting to see continued support for our SmartExam AI product from leading venture firms and healthcare systems," said Ray Costantini, MD, co-founder and CEO of Bright.md. "In just three years, our software has gained great traction, lowering the cost and improving the quality of care. We are already recognized as the market-leading remote care solution. SmartExam is more thorough and evidence-based than other approaches, and reduces the cost of care by guiding patients through personalized questions that provide targeted information for providers to use in their diagnosis and treatment."
The company also announced today that SmartExam is available to patients in Oregon, through West Coast health system Adventist Health.
"The Bright.md team has built a unique asset for clinical decision support. Their software intelligently combines patient intake data, electronic health records history and provider workflow to enable physicians to practice at the top of their license. We are excited to support the company and help it grow to the next level," said Gavin Teo, partner at B Capital Group.
Bright.md's SmartExam acts as a virtual physician's assistant -- think of it as the best automated medical resident ever -- that enables primary care providers (PCPs) to deliver exceptionally efficient remote care, while cutting costs and improving outcomes. Using SmartExam, patients connect to their own PCPs using a mobile, tablet or desktop device. The intelligent software dynamically interviews patients, using answers to garner more information and support providers in the care delivery process.
"We're amazed at the rapid success Bright.md is attaining in the marketplace, which desperately needs the kinds of tools they're providing," said Dino Vendetti, managing partner at Seven Peaks Ventures, a returning investor that has backed the company since its seed round. "Their solution brings technology to existing medical systems, improving patient access to physicians through quick virtual visits. This approach results in reduced costs and more personalized care, while freeing up valuable provider time to be spent on complex, problematic cases for both the patient and the provider."
By gathering information, referencing evidence-based criteria and creating an action report for use by PCPs within existing EHR workflow, SmartExam enables providers to achieve as much, or more, in a two-minute virtual patient visit as the 20 minutes of provider time needed for an office visit.
SmartExam is built on an AI platform that uses intelligent learning algorithms. The system gets smarter over time, as it learns more about a specific patient's health needs and conditions, and gains insights to improve the process with every patient and provider interaction.
Implementations in major health systems have improved patient visit efficiency by 90 percent, while dramatically improving per-visit margins and enabling providers to focus on making an informed diagnosis and treatment plan, including any necessary prescriptions.
"We see a huge percentage of return visits by eligible patients," said Costantini, noting that about 90 percent of SmartExam patients say they would recommend the service to a friend or colleague.
"SmartExam is being widely used by leading health systems across the United States to address primary care conditions, route higher acuity cases to the appropriate setting and provide surge capacity for urgent care centers -- supporting physicians, instead of trying to replace them. Bright.md offers a unique solution to address the large and growing shortage of PCPs, while driving down cost," added Adam Seabrook, principal at B Capital Group.
Also announced today, Adventist Health News:
http://bright.md/media/press/2017/07/17/brightmd-smartexam-adds-adventist-health.html
About Bright.md
Bright.md is transforming health care delivery with an innovative software solution that cuts the cost of health care visits by 80 percent. Its virtual care solution SmartExam™ automates care and communication between physician and patient for faster, more convenient and high quality diagnosis and treatment. A Gartner Cool Vendor in Healthcare, Bright.md's SmartExam solution is the preferred choice of AVIA's Virtual Access cohort, which includes eight major health delivery systems nationwide. SmartExam has been deployed by major health care delivery systems including Greenville Health System and Rush University Medical System. Founded in 2014 and based in Portland, Ore., the company is venture-backed by leading investors including B Capital Group, Seven Peaks Ventures, Oregon Angel Fund and the Stanford-StartX Fund. For more information, visit bright.md.
About B Capital Group
B Capital Group is a global venture capital firm that invests in pioneering healthcare, fintech, industrial logistics and consumer enablement companies that are primed to scale across the global stage. Founded in partnership with The Boston Consulting Group and its incubation arm BCG Digital Ventures, B Capital Group delivers unique access to top corporations to match cutting-edge start-ups with the world's leading CEOs, platforms, and brands. Existing portfolio companies include CXA, Evidation Health, iCertis, INTURN, Lanetix, Ninja Van and SilverCloud Health. For more information, visit http://www.bcapgroup.com/.
About Seven Peaks Ventures
Seven Peaks Ventures is Oregon's largest and most active early stage venture capital fund backing the next generation of technology-driven software companies that are transforming business operations and efficiencies. We apply decades of experience building category leading startups as well as an extended network of corporate partners to help provide our entrepreneurs with an unfair advantage to grow and scale their businesses. For more information, visit www.sevenpeaksventures.com.