AristaMD, a digital health company focused on improving the specialty referral process, and Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) are announcing that PCOM’s Primary Care Innovation Fund completed an investment in the company. The investment is the first for the new PCOM venture capital fund, which was established in May 2016 to invest in companies such as AristaMD with established products and services that are delivering healthcare innovations focused on primary care.
“We are thrilled to place our first investment in AristaMD,” said Dean Miller, managing director, PCOM Primary Care Innovation Fund. “It is exactly the type of company we are interested in funding: It provides an innovative service to help primary care providers improve efficiency, increase quality and reduce the cost of care, leading to an improved overall patient experience.”
AristaMD will use the proceeds to continue commercialization of its eConsult Platform, which has been proven to resolve more than 50 percent of routine clinical questions at the primary point of care. The AristaMD solution replaces the need for many in-person specialist visits, improves the overall quality of care and significantly reduces costs. Designed by practicing physicians, the AristaMD eConsult Platform is the only comprehensive solution in the market that offers primary care providers clinical checklists being utilized by leading academic medical centers across the country, a HIPAA-compliant, eConsult platform and robust set of data analytics tools.
“We are proud to be PCOM’s first investment, which is a testament to the proven ability of our eConsult Platform to not only improve timely access to specialty care, but significantly reduce unnecessary specialist visits, ER visits and hospital admissions,” said Rebecca Cofinas, president and CEO of AristaMD. “We guarantee access to care through a specialist response within 24 hours, which is a dramatic improvement for patients and physicians, and 85 percent of our eConsult users say the program significantly impacts their patient care plans. With more than 90 percent of questions answered in a one-way exchange, our eConsult Platform is fast and effective for both the primary care provider and the specialist.”
Through investments in companies such as AristaMD, the Primary Care Fund allows PCOM to extend its osteopathic philosophy of preventive, holistic and patient-centered approaches to care beyond its campuses, to improve patients’ quality of life nationwide. More than half of the nearly 12,000 osteopathic physicians who trained at PCOM have gone into primary care; to that end, the College has a significant interest in funding companies such as AristaMD that will help primary care providers improve their efficiency and quality of care.
“Our investment in AristaMD through the Primary Care Innovation Fund will further
the College’s mission to advance knowledge and, on a national level, allow us to improve
the well-being of the community and drive transformation in the way primary care is
delivered," said Jay S. Feldstein, DO, president and CEO of PCOM. “We are excited to invest in a company that shares
our focus on optimal patient outcomes and patient-centered care.”
The AristaMD eConsult platform includes a two-part process to help primary care providers
triage and facilitate specialty referrals: comprehensive clinical work-up checklists
licensed exclusively from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and a
simple, 24-hour electronic consult (eConsult) with an appropriate specialist. The
AristaMD eConsult Platform is proven to reduce overall specialist visits, ER visits
and hospital admissions. The platform is designed to be flexible to fit the unique
workflow, technology and clinical needs of each provider, from small rural clinics
to large county health systems in urban environments.
AristaMD is a healthcare-IT company empowering primary care physicians to deliver the highest quality, efficient care to patients through comprehensive clinical support and specialist referral solutions. Designed by practicing physicians, the AristaMD eConsult Platform combines clinical guidelines developed at UCSF, specialist eConsults and robust data collection and reporting into one easy-to-use software platform that is interoperable with core EMRs. AristaMD partners with clients to use the company’s platform for their own specialists or can directly provide eConsults through its comprehensive panel of board-certified specialists. AristaMD is at the forefront of designing exceptional tools to enable physicians to collaborate, promoting efficiency and optimal clinical care.
For the past 125 years, Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM) has trained thousands of highly competent, caring physicians, health practitioners and behavioral scientists who practice a “whole person” approach to care—treating people, not just symptoms. PCOM, a private, not-for-profit accredited institution of higher education, operates three campuses (PCOM, PCOM Georgia and PCOM South Georgia) and offers doctoral degrees in clinical psychology, educational psychology, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, physical therapy, and school psychology. The college also offers graduate degrees in applied behavior analysis, applied positive psychology, biomedical sciences, forensic medicine, medical laboratory science, mental health counseling, physician assistant studies, and school psychology. PCOM students learn the importance of health promotion, research, education and service to the community. Through its community-based Healthcare Centers, PCOM provides care to medically underserved populations. For more information, visit pcom.edu or call 215-871-6100.
Brandon Lausch
Executive Director, Strategic Communications
Email: brandonla@pcom.edu
Office: 215-871-6312 | Cell:
717-371-0609
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