NEW ORLEANS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Watershed Health, the company driving patient care coordination across the healthcare ecosystem to reduce costs, enhance quality of care and improve patient outcomes, today announced the completion of a $13.6 million funding round led by an investment from First Trust Capital Partners with participation from FCA Venture Partners, Create Health Ventures, Impact Engine, 450 Ventures, LDH Ventures II/Launchpad Digital Health, MassMutual Ventures, Capstar Partners and Wanxiang Healthcare Investments. This infusion of capital is being used to meet demand by payers and providers across the US for the company’s real-time care coordination Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform as well as to grow the engineering, development, customer success and sales teams.
Recent estimates show uncoordinated care costs the US roughly $340 billion annually in wasted resources, surpassing the costs associated with heart disease or cancer. Uncoordinated care is a significant contributor to morbidity and mortality, and can result in duplication of tests and services, medication errors, delayed or missed diagnoses, patient confusion and frustration, and poor patient outcomes. According to the New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst, almost 70 percent of avoidable adverse patient outcomes in the US by cost can be attributed to provider behavior.
“My work as a physician has shown me the consequences of uncoordinated care – the missed connections and the inefficiencies. It’s frustrating for providers and it’s harmful to patients. I started Watershed because I knew a better healthcare system was possible, and I wanted to solve the problems I was seeing in my community. Little did I know that Watershed would ultimately be advancing transformational change for the entire healthcare sector,” said Dr. Chip Grant, an interventional cardiologist and founder and CEO of Watershed Health. “Our work to drive coordinated care across healthcare communities is unbelievably compelling to both payers and providers, and we are expanding to help solve the problem of fragmented care nationwide.”
Grant founded Watershed Health in 2013 to help the Alabama Gulf Coast region. As the company regularly provided cost savings and improved patient outcomes, adoption of the platform grew organically across the state, including by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama. Demand has since expanded geographically with the opportunity to scale Watershed across the United States.
“Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama is dedicated to partnering with healthcare providers to enhance healthcare across our state by supporting collaborative solutions like Watershed Health," said Stacey Walters, Vice President Quality and Value Based Care at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama. “As an early adopter of this platform, we have seen firsthand the benefits it offers to our network. We are excited to continue our partnership with Watershed to drive innovation, efficiency and optimal outcomes for the providers, members and communities we serve.”
The company’s current customers include four out of six major US health plans, as well as thousands of clinical and non-clinical providers that are delivering care to more than five million patients. These include national health systems and leading post-acute healthcare organizations. “We cut hospital readmissions in half, and I can assure you that the number one reason those numbers declined - and those patients fared better - is Watershed Health,” said Jeff St. Clair, Chief Executive Officer at Springhill Medical Center.
Fighting the Healthcare Industry’s Costliest Problem: Uncoordinated Care
Watershed solves uncoordinated care by becoming the single, comprehensive point of connection among a patient’s clinical and non-clinical providers. A shared patient record enables the seamless exchange of information in real-time, including clinical documents, current health status, social determinants of health (such as food, housing and transportation) and contact information. Providers can effectively communicate, execute a care plan and make up-to-date, informed decisions. The company partners with payers to bring this all-encompassing approach to community healthcare.
Watershed is HITRUST-certified and meets key regulatory requirements for HIPAA compliance, data security and privacy. While traditional solutions for healthcare data exchange can lack crucial information, Watershed provides a curated list of relevant, real-time clinical data that providers need at the point of care. It seamlessly integrates with existing digital tools, Health Information Exchanges (HIE) and electronic health records (EHRs), and offers a virtual workspace for providers to ask questions and solve patient problems. Watershed also promotes accountability in care coordination, as it generates proprietary quality measures that are visible to other providers and payers seeking high-impact care partners.
“We cut across healthcare’s endless point solutions, digital tools, EHRs and HIEs to enable full transparency and cohesion for the first time in a patient’s care journey,” said Grant. “In an industry that’s heavy on data but light on true insights that move the needle, Watershed provides the essential information needed in real-time for providers to make the best decisions possible. We’re also measuring and promoting the care coordination behaviors that impact patient outcomes, enabling organizations to identify valuable partners.”
Investor Quotes
“Watershed is poised to be the leader in coordinated care – the costliest problem in the industry,” said Emma Cartmell, managing partner of Create Health Ventures. “Watershed is on an upward trajectory because both the payers and the providers have experienced the benefits of being able to use a platform that provides real-time care coordination, and I expect to see marked improvements in healthcare outcomes as more providers join, use and experience the tangible improvements it delivers.”
"While there may be doubts within the healthcare industry about the possibility of community-wide collaboration throughout a patient's care journey, Watershed is not only demonstrating that it’s achievable but also essential,” said Jon Phillips, managing director of First Trust Capital Partners. ”Watershed offers a comprehensive view of a patient's health, empowering providers to make informed decisions at the point of care. We believe the company is poised to revolutionize the healthcare landscape, and our investment reflects our enthusiasm to be a part of this transformation.”
“Dr. Grant's unique perspective as a physician has been instrumental in the successful adoption of Watershed,” said Todd Johnson, partner at FCA Venture Partners. “He and his team understand the challenges of providing patient care in a system where communication and collaboration are often lacking. Watershed is intentionally designed to cut through the noise and solve the massive problem of fragmented care.”
About Watershed Health
Watershed Health is driving patient care coordination by connecting providers of all types across the healthcare ecosystem to reduce costs, enhance quality of care and improve patient outcomes. The company enables seamless communication, collaboration and data sharing, providing real-time, data-driven insights that empower healthcare providers to make better informed and effective clinical decisions. For more information, visit www.watershedhealth.com, and follow on LinkedIn.
