Minneapolis, Minnesota-based Zipnosis, which offers whitelabeled telemedicine tools to providers, quietly raised a $3 million funding round last week. The raise came from existing investors. The company's last round, in January 2016, was supported by Safeguard Scientifics, Ascension Ventures, Fairview Health Services, Hyde Park Venture Partners, Arthur Ventures, Waterline Ventures and Omphalos Ventures. This brings the company's total funding to $23 million.
“As an organization focused on sustainable, organic growth, we were very intentional about the size of our Series B,” Zipnosis CEO Jon Pearce said in a statement. “In this industry, you hear about huge amounts of cash being splashed around. Zipnosis didn’t require a massive infusion of investment to achieve our growth objectives. It was more important for us to take precisely what we needed to move to the next level – no more and no less.”
In the lead up to HIMSS18, Pearce spoke to MobiHealthNews about his company's strategy. Whereas many large telemedicine companies are offering services via health insurers or direct to consumer, Zipnosis continues to focus on enabling providers to launch their own telemedicine services.
“We absolutely believe that healthcare is still local and we believe that it’s the longterm and the right solution not only for the best quality care but also for the most affordable care for patients,” Pearce said at the time. “The healthcare providers haven’t moved quick enough. The incentives haven’t been there and change is hard in healthcare.”
The round comes on the heels of a busy year for Zipnosis. In January, Methodist Family Health Centers, a part of Methodist Medical Group and an affiliate of Methodist Health System, unveiled Methodist NOW, an online diagnosis and treatment service powered by Zipnosis. The platform enables patients to receive easy access to care by connecting them virtually with their Methodist Family Health Center providers.
In February the company launched Patient Outreach, a new feature that aids hospitals in patient acquisition. The feature helps connect patients who are not a fit for telemedicine to provider organizations to schedule an in-person visit.
In April, Zipnosis teamed up with The American Academy of Family Physicians to offer a virtual healthcare platform to AAFP's 129,000 members. The telemedicine tech provides an online diagnosis and treatment system that enables AAFP members to offer their patients easy access to care by connecting them virtually with their family physician. Later that same month the company added post-surgical care to its telemedicine offerings.
Finally, in June the company announced expanded Surescripts certification that will allow the company to add medication history into the data that's available to telemedicine doctors.
"Ensuring the safety and efficacy of care delivered through the Zipnosis platform continues to be our highest priority,” Dr. Kevin Smith, chief medical information officer at Zipnosis said at the time. “Incorporating Surescripts medication history information as part of the provider workflow further enhances their ability to make clinically sound prescribing decisions and streamlines their experience with the platform.”
