Healthcare data analytics company Komodo Health is adding demographic information to its Healthcare Map, a database of de-identified patient characteristics and care journeys.

“If we are serious about reducing the burden of disease, we must acknowledge healthcare inequities that exist and take meaningful action to address unmet needs in communities of color,” Dr. Arif Nathoo, CEO and cofounder of Komodo Health, said in a statement.

“Everyone in healthcare from providers to industry innovators play a role in addressing gaps in care, and we believe that we will have the ability to surface critical insights to help drive meaningful outcomes.”

WHY IT MATTERS

Komodo said adding racial and ethnicity data will help its customers address inequities, including finding disparities in outcomes, gaps in care and building more diverse clinical trials.

The pandemic brought long-standing racial health disparities to the forefront, as data showed American Indian and Alaska Native, Black and Hispanic people were disproportionately being infected and killed by COVID-19.

A study published in JAMA earlier this year found racial and ethnic gaps in health status, access and affordability largely persisted between 1999 and 2018. 

Meanwhile, clinical trials can under-represent minority groups. In the Food and Drug Administration’s 2020 Drug Trials Snapshot, 8% of participants in new drug trials were Black or African American, despite making up 12.4% of the U.S. population overall. 

THE LARGER TREND

In March this year, Komodo Health announced a hefty $220 million Series E funding round, pushing its valuation to $3.3 billion. 

In 2021, the company also partnered with PicnicHealth to use their products jointly to create a real-world patient data pool for research and acquired life science market access software company Breakaway Partners. It also entered into an agreement with Blue Health Intelligence to integrate its longitudinal, de-identified, real-world patient data into its Healthcare Map. 

Other companies that aim to use social determinants of health data include Unite Us –which snapped up population health firm NowPow in September and health analytics company Carrot Health in August – and Clarify Health, which raised $115 million in Series C funding earlier this year.