Photo: CirrusMD
CirrusMD, a Denver-based healthcare communications company founded by CEO Andrew Altorfer, Chief Medical Officer Blake McKinney, MD, and Elliot Sands, recently announced a number of significant milestones.
CirrusMD said it raised $15 million in Series B funding led by Drive Capital, Colorado Impact Fund, and other prior investors. Including this round, CirrusMD raised a total of $26 million. This round of funding will carry CirrusMD to its next phase of growth and drive product innovation for supporting current and future partners.
CirrusMD works with health plans for building greater trust in member populations and deliver exceptional virtual care experiences by removing the barriers that exist in today’s traditional healthcare landscape. And members can access unlimited on-demand dialogue with a board-certified physician in seconds through a web or mobile app whenever it is convenient for them.
And CirrusMD goes through payers and integrated delivery networks to pay doctors an hourly wage for these services. And the CirrusMD app integrates with electronic medical records systems so that it is compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
“Real-time communication between a doctor and patient not only improves outcomes but is expected in healthcare today. This latest round of funding enables us to bring seamless, chat-based virtual care to more people,” said Altorfer. “CirrusMD is leading the market in delivering instant, secure texting with board-certified physicians across all 50 states. We’re turning the antiquated, brick-and-mortar approach to care on its head. By optimizing member engagement and providing care where and when it’s needed, we can reduce out of control healthcare costs and deliver better patient care.”
With CirrusMD, there are no paywall barriers and a physician conversation can last as long as members need for getting answers for managing their wellness. Plus the platform empowers better care access, reduces unnecessary Emergency Room visits, decreases wait times, and lowers call center volume. At the same time, it drives member utilization rates that exceeds telehealth industry norms by about three times.
“Today’s healthcare landscape is not only inefficient; it’s impersonal. CirrusMD is fixing that by changing the way people interact and communicate with healthcare providers,” added Drive Capital partner and CirrusMD board member Molly McCartin. “The company has proven its ability to engage some of the largest players in the market including 4 of the 8 largest health insurers in the country, deliver a 4:1 program ROI, and successfully resolve up to 84% of all encounters on-platform. CirrusMD enables real change against traditional models of care.”
And CirrusMD also announced a new contract with Iron Bow Technologies as a subcontractor to the United States Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) for improved care access and delivery for the veteran community.
Through the partnership, veterans will be able to have easy access to communication with VA health care team members in 60 seconds or less through a mobile or web application. CirrusMD is going to work closely through Iron Bow Technologies with the VA to raise awareness and drive utilization across the platform with the new VA Health Chat app for improving care management, care access, and the health and wellness of the veteran population. This initial rollout is going to be available for more than 200,000 patients across three of the VA’s medical centers.
This year, CirrusMD saw a 141% increase in Q1 patient encounters year-over-year and the company also partnered with an additional major market payer for expanding its Medicaid market share into 3 new pilot programs in 3 states.
In January, CirrusMD also expanded its leadership team as Scott Johnson was promoted to President and COO. Johnson will be responsible for managing all functional teams and supporting company strategy and growth along with future capital raises and board participation under this new role.
