Medical device maker HealthSense raised $10 million in equity, debt, and securities in a round led by Mansa Capital with additional investment from existing investors Merck Global Health Innovation Fund and Radius Ventures. Another existing investor that wasn't mentioned in this round is Fallon Community Health Plan.
This brings the company's total funding to date to at least $17 million.
“Mansa Capital possesses exceptionally strong relationships that Healthsense can leverage to expand our reach into the managed care and home health markets, where we see major growth opportunities," Healthsense President and CEO A.R. Weiler said in a statement. "This is an ideal complement to our thriving senior living business.”
Healthsense, which has offices in Minneapolis and Boston, offers several products for senior living communities. For remote monitoring, HealthSense offers eNeighbor, a monitoring system that includes an emergency call pendant, sensors that track around-the-house activity like sleep, activity, and bathroom use, and other contact sensors placed around the home. According to the company, these track the senior’s “activities of daily living” or ADLs and also provide voice reminders from care providers.
The company's other remote patient monitoring tools are a personal emergency response system and WellAware Systems, a program that offers caregivers a snapshot of a patient's daily health metrics along with analytics. This includes metrics on sleep quality, activity levels, bathroom visits, and other physiological information.
Healthsense also offers a nurse call system, vital sign monitoring, and wellness management.
This year, the company has launched a few pilot programs with providers including Humana Cares/Senior Bridge and Fallon Health. One such program, the company said, showed positive early results from eNeighbor.
In May 2011, Verizon signed a deal with Healthsense to co-market the remote monitoring company’s services to senior living communities that have Verizon’s FiOS fiber optic network installed.
And the year prior, Healthsense funded a study that showcased the savings a senior housing facility equipped with Healthsense technology could bring over a standard nursing home. The study found that safely moving 33 elderly residents from nursing homes and into a new supportive housing complex in Philadelphia, resulted in savings of $1.85 million annually. According to the study, Healthsense’s technology monitored the seniors for almost two years and the combined cost of technology and staff support for all 33 of the residents was $288,600 for one year in supportive housing vs. $2.14 million for the nursing home care. The annual cost of Healthsense’s sensor technology alone was $39,000.
