New York-based CareDox, which offers a digital platform for schools to manage, store and transfer children’s health records, has raised $6.4 million in Series A in a round led by Digitalis Ventures. First Round Capital, Giza Venture Capital, TEXO Ventures and Prolog Ventures also contributed. Previously, the company raised $4.3 million in April 2016. The new funding will be used to further expand CareDox’s platform with more healthcare providers.
The CareDox platform is currently used in more than 2,000 schools, including large districts like Chicago Public Schools and Baltimore City Public, and the company handles the healthcare records of over a million students in total. The digital platform allows schools to electronically manage student health data and communicate health information between the school, parents and pediatricians. School healthcare providers have access to immunization records, medical history, allergies, medications and any special dietary needs, and the platform syncs with the student information system, State Immunization Registry and provider EHRs. It also offers tools for nurses to help them with enrollment, approvals, daily visits, medications, screenings and secure messaging with parents.
CareDox, founded in 2010, was rebranded from another product called MotherKnows, an online health record service that allowed parents to view their child’s medical records via the web or mobile applications. Since public schools provide health services for over 50 million students nationally, CareDox positions itself as a valuable tool for what they consider the “front line for pediatric health.”
“Public schools, specifically school nurses, are taking on a greater role in managing the health of children today,” CareDox CEO and Founder Hesky Kutscher said in a statement. “As chronic illnesses, such as asthma and diabetes grow, parents and their children lean more on schools to provide routine care. CareDox serves as the connection point between the healthcare providers, parents, and the school nurse in tracking a student’s ongoing health, from routine vaccinations to administering medication.”
While chronic health conditions like asthma are among the biggest reason for student absenteeism, some school age children still remain uninsured, thus putting schools in the position of providing much of their basic healthcare. In effect, schools become a large medical network in their own right, and school administrators can leverage aggregated student health data from CareDox to seek funding or support.
“Timely health information can be a more powerful tool for schools, districts, state, and federal organizations to help understand and mitigate health trends that adversely impact students and lead to poor attendance and performance,” Digitalis Ventures Founder and Managing Partner Geoffrey Smith said in a statement. “CareDox arms schools with important insights that can be used in aggregate to identify health trends and individually to improve the care of an individual student.”
