OneMedMarket is pleased to report that its member company Epion Health announced the closing of a $4.5M Series A financing round with Deerfield Management Company, a leading national venture fund.
“We are delighted to see Epion get funded. For the past three years, we’ve been saying that the future of the physician’s office is the iPad. The Epion application provides administrative support as well as patient education, making it the leader in this new space,” said Brett Johnson, CEO of OneMedMarket. “Epion first presented at OneMedForum in 2012, and we have been working with Epion over the past three years to get their message to the right people (See OneMedSentinel May 14, 2012 The Future of Healthcare: Part II, The Waiting Room of Tomorrow).”
According to Johnson, “They’re the first ones in what will surely be a massive market. It’s a simple idea combined with a talented CEO/founder who converted his knowledge of marketing pharmaceutical companies to spot an unmet need – communicating with patients during the typically dead 23-minute wait to see a doctor. As Joe evolved the business, he was able to address the inefficiency of the check-in process. A relationship with one of the most successful physician practice management groups, Athenahealth, enabled streamlining the patient check-in process. He got there first and succeeded at capitalizing and executing on the opportunity with Athena. He has presented at all of our forums within the past three years. It’s inspirational; if you’re smart and relentless, you will get funded.”
Johnson continued, “What amazed me is how long it took to get funding. Many passed on this deal, yet it meets an obvious business need. They’re the leaders. They’re not without competition, but it is a massive market. With this capital and Blewitt’s execution skills, there’s a huge opportunity and, I think, a bright future for the company.”
According to their press release, the funding will be used to scale Epion’s rapidly growing, iPad-based digital check-in and patient engagement platform around the country.
This news comes on the heels of Epion’s recent announcement of a partnership and successful integration with Athenahealth’s More Disruption Please (MDP) program. Epion’s solution is now live and available to Athenahealth’s network of more than 55,000 providers.
At the announcement, Epion CEO Joe Blewitt said, “This capital gives us the necessary resources for the foreseeable future to capitalize on a very large market opportunity.”
Blewitt noted that the “focus is on helping our providers increase revenues, decrease costs, improve patient satisfaction, and improve patient outcomes,” and added that Epion is “excited to be partnering with Deerfield Management. In addition to deep pockets, Deerfield brings strong healthcare industry expertise and an extremely robust research arm to the table.”
Leslie Henshaw, a Partner at Deerfield Management, remarked that, “Deerfield is committed to supporting innovative healthcare technology solutions and is excited about Epion’s ability to both improve practice level economics as well as enhance clinical care and patient experience.”
Epion participated in the Healthbox Accelerator in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which Blewitt cites as being advantageous to his efforts. OneMedForum was critical in raising visibility and the OneMed franchise looks forward to continual development and involvement with Epion.