Watershed Health, a company driving patient care coordination across the healthcare ecosystem to reduce costs, enhance quality of care and improve patient outcomes, announced the completion of a $13.6 million funding round led by an investment from First Trust Capital Partners with participation from FCA Venture Partners, Create Health Ventures, Impact Engine, 450 Ventures, LDH Ventures II/Launchpad Digital Health, MassMutual Ventures, Capstar Partners and Wanxiang Healthcare Investments.
This funding will be used to meet the demand by payers and providers across the US for the company’s real-time care coordination software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform and to grow the engineering, development, customer success, and sales teams.
Recent estimates have shown that uncoordinated care costs hundreds of billions in wasted resources. It is also a major contributor to morbidity and mortality and could result in duplication of tests and services, medication errors, delayed or missed diagnoses, patient confusion and frustration, and poor patient outcomes.
Dr. Chip Grant launched Watershed Health in 2013 to help the Alabama Gulf Coast region. And as the company regularly provided cost savings and improved patient outcomes, adoption of the platform grew organically across the state, including by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama. The demand has since expanded geographically with the opportunity to scale Watershed across the United States.
The company’s current customers include 4 out of 6 major US health plans, as well as thousands of clinical and non-clinical providers that are delivering care to more than five million patients. These include national health systems and leading post-acute healthcare organizations.
Watershed solves uncoordinated care by becoming a single and comprehensive point of connection among a patient’s clinical and non-clinical providers. A shared patient record enables the seamless exchange of information in real-time, including clinical documents, current health status, social determinants of health (such as food, housing, and transportation), and contact information. Providers can effectively communicate and execute a care plan and make up-to-date, informed decisions. The company also partners with payers to bring this all-encompassing approach to community healthcare.
Watershed is HITRUST-certified and meets the key regulatory requirements for HIPAA compliance, data security, and privacy. Even though traditional solutions for healthcare data exchange can lack crucial information, Watershed provides a curated list of relevant clinical data that providers need at the point of care.
Plus, it seamlessly integrates with existing digital tools, Health Information Exchanges (HIE) and electronic health records (EHRs), and offers a virtual workspace for providers to ask questions and solve patient problems. Watershed also promotes accountability in care coordination, generating proprietary quality measures that are visible to other providers and payers seeking high-impact care partners.
KEY QUOTES:
“My work as a physician has shown me the consequences of uncoordinated care – the missed connections and the inefficiencies. It’s frustrating for providers and it’s harmful to patients. I started Watershed because I knew a better healthcare system was possible, and I wanted to solve the problems I was seeing in my community. Little did I know that Watershed would ultimately be advancing transformational change for the entire healthcare sector. Our work to drive coordinated care across healthcare communities is unbelievably compelling to both payers and providers, and we are expanding to help solve the problem of fragmented care nationwide.”
“We cut across healthcare’s endless point solutions, digital tools, EHRs and HIEs to enable full transparency and cohesion for the first time in a patient’s care journey. In an industry that’s heavy on data but light on true insights that move the needle, Watershed provides the essential information needed in real-time for providers to make the best decisions possible. We’re also measuring and promoting the care coordination behaviors that impact patient outcomes, enabling organizations to identify valuable partners.”
– Dr. Chip Grant, an interventional cardiologist and founder and CEO of Watershed Health
“Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama is dedicated to partnering with healthcare providers to enhance healthcare across our state by supporting collaborative solutions like Watershed Health. As an early adopter of this platform, we have seen firsthand the benefits it offers to our network. We are excited to continue our partnership with Watershed to drive innovation, efficiency and optimal outcomes for the providers, members and communities we serve.”
– Stacey Walters, Vice President Quality and Value Based Care at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama
“We cut hospital readmissions in half, and I can assure you that the number one reason those numbers declined – and those patients fared better – is Watershed Health.”
– Jeff St. Clair, Chief Executive Officer at Springhill Medical Center
“Watershed is poised to be the leader in coordinated care – the costliest problem in the industry. Watershed is on an upward trajectory because both the payers and the providers have experienced the benefits of being able to use a platform that provides real-time care coordination, and I expect to see marked improvements in healthcare outcomes as more providers join, use and experience the tangible improvements it delivers.”
– Emma Cartmell, managing partner of Create Health Ventures
“While there may be doubts within the healthcare industry about the possibility of community-wide collaboration throughout a patient’s care journey, Watershed is not only demonstrating that it’s achievable but also essential. Watershed offers a comprehensive view of a patient’s health, empowering providers to make informed decisions at the point of care. We believe the company is poised to revolutionize the healthcare landscape, and our investment reflects our enthusiasm to be a part of this transformation.”
– Jon Phillips, managing director of First Trust Capital Partners
“Dr. Grant’s unique perspective as a physician has been instrumental in the successful adoption of Watershed. He and his team understand the challenges of providing patient care in a system where communication and collaboration are often lacking. Watershed is intentionally designed to cut through the noise and solve the massive problem of fragmented care.”
– Todd Johnson, partner at FCA Venture Partners
