Medical records have long been stuck in prehistoric methods of organization. As of 2017, less than one in three U.S. hospitals were able to find, receive and send electronic copies of patient medical records. While electronic records are more frequently used today, the slow transition from handwritten to electronic records not only limits the ability for patients to easily access their information, it also limits medical centers ability to accurately capture patient data that can be used to better treatments.
To combat the digital disconnect, Noga Leviner founded PicnicHealth, a patient-focused healthtech company that works to build a wide range of patient datasets for life sciences researchers while allowing patients to have an inclusive, electronic backlog of their medical records.
On Monday, PicnicHealth raked in $60 million in a Series C funding round led by B Capital Group with participation from existing investors Felicis Ventures and Amplify Partners. This round brings PicnicHealth’s total funding raise to date to over $100 million, according to a company statement.
“When we started PicnicHealth eight years ago, we set out to help patients by making medical data work better for them,” Leviner said in a statement. “At the time, I was focused on the frustrations faced by individual patients in our fragmented healthcare system. But the more I’ve learned, the more it’s become clear that patient frustration is just the tip of the iceberg. Every day, across our healthcare system, we make decisions without the full benefit of data on what’s happening to patients out in the real world.”
With its new capital, PicnicHealth plans to develop new “clinically-rich” data sets for 30 new diseases. The company gathers this data through partnering with patients to collect it. In return, patients have a completely digital backlog of their medical records.
According to the company, dozens of life sciences and pharmaceutical companies utilize PicnicHealth’s datasets to further understand the experiences of a wide-range of patient populations. Accessing the data sets through PicnicHealth, according to the company, aids big pharma businesses in providing better treatment to patients faster.
“Gaining patient consent isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s the only way to build the complete, longitudinal data needed to truly describe how diseases look in the real world.” Leviner said in a statement. “We are thrilled to expand this patient-centered approach to empower patients in dozens of new diseases with control over their data.”
While PicnicHealth did not spell out hiring plans with its fresh capital, the company is actively hiring for engineers, designers and health science roles. Leviner told Built In via email that the company has more than doubled in size this year and plans to continue to hire across the board.
