Conversa Health Secures $12 Million Series B Funding to Advance AI-Driven Virtual Care Platform

Recently, VCBeat learned that virtual care platform Conversa Health has secured $12 million in Series B financing. The round was led by Builders VC and Northwell Ventures, the corporate venture arm of Northwell Health, with participation from Nassau Street Ventures, Builders VC, P5 Health Ventures, and UH Ventures.This round of financing will be used forAccelerate the transformation of its healthcare system toward data-driven virtual care, and expand the company’s business lines targeting COVID-19.。

Conversa Health's Historical Fundraising Rounds

Since Alan Turing posed the question “Can machines think?” in 1950, to the emergence of intelligent virtual assistants such as Siri and Cortana today, the computing industry has never ceased its exploration of human-computer interaction models. However, these interaction paradigms have rarely been specifically researched or developed for the healthcare sector. Now, with the outbreak of the epidemic in the United States,Human-Computer Interaction in Healthcare: Virtual Health Platforms Finally Take Center Stage。

Conversa Health is a company that develops virtual care platforms for the healthcare sector. During the pandemic in the United States,Conversa Health not only addresses numerous challenges in telemedicine, such as access pathways, capacity, and costs, but also leverages its database and AI technologies to integrate patient usage data, electronic health records (EHRs), and sensor data. This enables a more intelligent and targeted analysis of patients’ health conditions. Furthermore, by applying data analytics models, Conversa Health improves patient care practices, health outcomes, and user experience.。

Innovative organizations such as UCSF Health, Northwell, UNC Health, Prisma Health, and University Hospitals are currently using Conversa’s COVID-19 Virtual Care Program Suite to provide symptom checks for patients and employees.

However, Conversa Health’s exploration of virtual care platforms extends far beyond this.

Conversa Health, founded in 2014, is a virtual care platform powered by big data and AI that delivers personalized interactions for patients at scale.. ItsProprietary patient analytics, a health signals engine, and an extensive library of clinical intelligent engagement programs enable healthcare organizations to efficiently stratify patients and manage risk throughout the care continuum.。

For patients, Conversa Health integrates patient-generated health data (PGHD) and biometric data from over 400 devices, boasting an extensive library of more than 700 clinically intelligent conversational programs covering conditions such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), congestive heart failure (CHF), diabetes, hypertension, and joint replacement. Its proprietary patient analytics, health signal engine, and comprehensive library of clinically intelligent engagement programs enable in-depth analysis of patient experiences, identify true patient needs, and deliver more targeted conversational and health solutions accordingly.

More targeted conversational models and scientifically grounded solutions have made health plans more accessible and easier to understand. This user-friendly conversational approach not only reduces the costs patients incur in accessing health plans, but also enhances their reliance on the platform and improves adherence to the prescribed health plans. In this way, Conversa Health has addressed a key pain point in the market: the low user stickiness observed across many virtual care platforms.

Based on the above overview of Conversa Health, it is evident thatThe core differentiator of Conversa Health’s products from other virtual care platforms is its AI-driven model, underpinned by a database built on extensive data collection.. It is precisely the empowerment of data and technology that enablesConversa is able to provide more scientific and comprehensive solutions across multiple dimensions, including health systems, healthcare consumers, pharmaceutical companies, and health technology companies.。

As Brozinsky, CEO of Conversa Health, pointed out,Conversa is a data company in many ways.。

Powered by Technology and Data, which will undoubtedly bring more possibilities for corporate development and product R&D. Since its inception, Conversa Health has continuously researched and upgraded its core technologies while expanding its business lines.

Conversa Health Platform User Interface

Image source: official website

Currently,Conversa Health primarily delivers services across four dimensions: healthcare consumers, health systems, pharmaceutical companies, and health technology firms.。

First,For healthcare consumers, Conversa Health can conduct in-depth analysis of their sentiments to achieve a genuine understanding of their needs, helping them obtain personalized experiences.。Conversa Health can promptly address consumers’ care needs and provide relevant health information whenever and wherever they require assistance. Meanwhile, its virtual care platform will leverage data analytics to deliver unique, platform-based health insights.

Secondly,For healthcare organizations, Conversa Health can help innovative healthcare organizations effectively conduct large-scale monitoring, management, and consumer engagement.By leveraging healthcare consumers’ “health signals” (i.e., patient-generated data, biosignals, and symptoms), to facilitate the generation of highly personalized, automated, and scientifically grounded dialogues.

Meanwhile, leveraging Conversa Connect’s proprietary patient analytics, health signal engine, and extensive library of clinically intelligent engagement programs helps healthcare organizations efficiently stratify patients and manage risks throughout the care continuum. This enables organizations to effectively manage chronic conditions, post-discharge care, post-operative care, and medication adherence, thereby optimizing treatment outcomes while reducing the cost and effort required to deliver care.

Furthermore,For pharmaceutical companies, Conversa Health delivers value beyond the medication itself—by providing targeted, personalized conversations that equip users with relevant medical knowledge and motivate them to adhere to their medication regimens.Conversa Health leverages data and technology to launch an automated communication channel directly to patients.

This approach not only enhances patients’ health literacy and guides them in adhering to medication principles and managing their treatments, but also enables the collection and analysis of patient health signals through direct engagement. These insights provide valuable data on drug efficacy, symptom management, and other health metrics, thereby supplying pharmaceutical organizations with more reliable evidence for clinical trials and helping drug manufacturers adjust their production strategies.

Finally,For health technology companies, Conversa leverages Smart on FHIR technology to address data integration challenges, helping enterprises build a more robust healthcare informatics ecosystem.This technology has become a key “building block” for extending the functionality of other technical solutions, including electronic health records (EHRs), patient monitoring, risk stratification analytics, telemedicine, patient education, marketing websites, and call center solutions.

Meanwhile, the Conversational AI platform will serve as a “digital front door” to healthcare by leveraging its clinical intelligence chat library and integration technologies, effectively guiding patient triage and determining whether they need to consult with a physician.

In summary,Conversa offers the following advantages:: By leveraging Conversa, healthcare organizations can reduce unnecessary readmissions and enhance patients’ health literacy and engagement; boost care team productivity and upgrade management capabilities; improve medication adherence and symptom management within care plans; enable targeted outreach and monitoring for relevant patient populations; increase patient satisfaction as measured by HCAHPS scores; raise appointment attendance and surgical show-up rates; effectively lower call center operational costs; and serve as a “digital front door” to healthcare, thereby enhancing the patient care experience and improving access modalities, user stickiness, and program retention rates.

Conversa Health’s expertise in technology and healthcare stems from the professional backgrounds of its team and their establishment of the company’s core development philosophy. So, what kind of team does Conversa Health actually have?

Conversa Health’s team, board of directors, and advisory committee are all composed of medical professionals and technologists who are passionate about leveraging technology to deliver intelligent, personalized conversations for patients, thereby enhancing their healthcare experience.

Amid a surge in demand for virtual care, Conversa has continued to grow and expand. In June 2017, Conversa Health announced the appointment of Murray Brozinsky as its Chief Executive Officer. Brozinsky brings more than 20 years of experience operating and advising high-growth technology companies.

Conversa Health CEO Murray Brozinsky

Image source: official website

At the same time, Brozinsky is the founder and head of Cambrian Technologies LLC, a company that helps innovative technology companies grow. Before joining Cambrian, Brozinsky served as President of Netcentives (a leader in digital loyalty programs), Founder and Chairman of Lakshmi Technologies (a technology commercialization company), CFO of McCaw Communications, and M&A investment banker at Morgan Stanley.

Brozinsky brings extensive technical experience to the Conversa Health team, driving further technological and strategic improvements.Accelerated Conversa Health’s transformation of its healthcare system toward data-driven virtual care。

Chief Technology OfficerCam OughHe previously served as a senior executive in the IT department at Cigna, where he was responsible for enhancing clinical data interoperability and the usability of digital health platforms. He also led the implementation of solutions such as OneGuide.

Cam Ough, Chief Technology Officer at Conversa Health

Image source: official website

Before joining Cigna, he worked at Intel for ten years.Served as the lead for multiple technical initiatives and engineering projects. Meanwhile, he pioneered initiatives including data center management capabilities, and the localization of products and services.During his tenure, Cam Ough also served as the Solution Project Lead for Intel Digital Health’s remote care management platform.。

Cam Ough Joins Conversa Health to Optimize Business Strategy and Address Platform Technical Issues, While Establishing and Advancing the Company’s Technology Roadmap and Leading Technical Initiatives to Enhance End-User Satisfaction.

Conversa Health, as an innovative company, not only relies on medical professionals and technical talent for its corporate development but also maintains a consistent track record in attracting top-tier talent across various sectors of the healthcare industry.

Conversa Health leverages data and technology as its core drivers, enabling enterprises to continuously expand their business lines on top of their existing infrastructure.During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, Conversa Health established a new business line, “Employee Health Screening Services,” through extensive collaborations with healthcare institutions. This enabled employers to screen the health status of returning workers using only a simple question-and-answer process. Following the launch of this service, Conversa Health developed a program to help screen for mental health conditions, addressing the stress and anxiety experienced by the general population due to COVID-19.

Conversa Health also launched initiatives such as laboratory results reporting and antibody testing. Under a mechanism enabling bidirectional data sharing between patients and healthcare enterprises, Conversa expanded its communication and care capabilities for thousands of COVID-19 patients, thereby providing more robust data for clinical research.

Conversa Health’s approach offers many insights for virtual care platforms and the telemedicine sector, namelyData and technology should remain the core of the product; only by resolving key technical challenges can we leverage this foundation to scale business lines and meet growing market demand.。

Meanwhile,Market perceptions should also be more diversified; platform functionality development should cater to both consumer-facing (C-end) and business-facing (B-end) users, thereby building a product matrix to achieve resource sharing.。