Privia Health, LLC, a physician-based wellness and care management company that is building the nation’s largest high performance network of top doctors, announced today it has secured $12.3 million in Series B financing from a group of leading healthcare industry investors and executives. The round of financing was led by Health Enterprise Partners (HEP), a New York-based healthcare private equity group whose limited partners include some of the nation’s top health systems and health plans.
“The healthcare industry is rapidly evolving toward a focus on keeping patients healthy and engaged in wellness, rather than just reimbursing for sick-care,” said David Tamburri, General Partner at Health Enterprise Partners. “Jeff Butler, Privia’s founder and CEO, and Dave Rothenberg, it’s President, are proven, world class executives who understand the complexity of our healthcare delivery system and how to transform it.
“Privia is in a unique position to help providers and payors successfully implement physician-led models of wellness and care management,” Tamburri continued. “With their turnkey web-based technologies, virtual wellness teams, and unique approach to engaging consumers in their own care, Privia can wrap around physician practices and literally transform them overnight into high-performance delivery networks.”
Founded in 2007, Privia’s innovative physician-based wellness model grew out of Butler’s earlier work in developing highly successful disease management networks for treating HIV/AIDS patients in South Africa. It also draws from patient-centered medical home (PCMH) principles that have proven to drive significant improvements in health outcomes, and material reductions in cost and utilization.
Unlike traditional approaches, Privia anchors its wellness and care management programs within top physician practices – tapping into the trusted role of a personal doctor to oversee wellness interventions, and to increase people’s engagement in their own health and well-being. Privia acts as a virtual extension of a physician’s practice, supporting patients in-between office visits by helping them implement and adhere to the wellness and care recommendations of their doctor. Privia combines:
- A network of leading physicians who are committed to modern, proactive, patient-centered care;
- Team-based care: nurse care managers, registered dietitians, certified fitness trainers, and health coaches who work in partnership with the doctor to support patients between office visits; and,
- A state-of-the-art, web-based technology platform that enables patients to collaborate with their doctor and team, to identify wellness goals, develop individual action plans, flag care gaps, track progress, monitor key health indicators, and deeply engage patients in their own care (for example, using wireless blood pressure monitoring to provide regular feedback to a patient’s doctor on how well a new medication is working).
“We’ve found that top physicians really want to help patients do a better job of staying healthy and managing their conditions, but they lack the time, technology, and resources needed to engage consumers outside of traditional care settings,” Butler said. “In our experience, if you provide doctors with turnkey tools that integrate into their workflow, and engage consumers with highly-personalized support that focuses on achieving individual goals, you can have a dramatic and lasting impact on people’s health. We’re honored that some of the industry’s top leaders see the value we’re creating, and are placing their faith in us to play a large role in transforming patient care.”
HEP, a NY based private equity firm, focuses its investments in healthcare information technology and service businesses. The firm is backed by some of the nation’s leading health systems and plans, including Baylor Health Care System, Dignity Health, Riverside Health Care System, Sentara Healthcare, Sutter Health, UPMC, and WellPoint, among others. HEP is led by its team of experienced founders, including Dan Cain, founder and managing director of Cain Brothers, a leading healthcare investment bank; Rick Stowe, former general partner of Welsh, Carson, Anderson and Stowe, one of the largest healthcare private equity firms in the country; and Bob Schulz, former President and COO of Harris & Harris Group, a publicly traded venture capital fund.
Privia’s individual investors are also leading healthcare industry leaders. They include Robert Haft, a highly successful entrepreneur and currently the majority shareholder of Ambient Healthcare; Frank Williams, executive chairman of The Advisory Board Company and CEO of Evolent Health; John Deane, CEO of Southwind, A Division of The Advisory Board Company and one of the nation’s leading physician practice management services for health systems; and Doug Ryckman, former Worldwide Managing Partner-Healthcare for Accenture.
Privia will use the equity financing to continue the rapid growth of its high performance network of doctors – engaging leading physicians who are committed to offering their patients a modern, personal, and convenient care experience that’s focused on wellness. More than 200 top-rated physicians are currently participating in the Privia High Performance Network – these doctors care for more than 400,000 patients nationwide. Privia will continue expanding its direct-to-consumer retail membership offerings, as well as grow its provider/payor-sponsored business through partnerships with progressive health plans, employers, and health systems who are looking to differentiate themselves in the market, while integrating with high-performance physician practices.
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