Health Services Firm higi Scoops Up $21.3 Million For Modern Healthcare Systems

The Chicago-based population health services firm higi – which focuses on consumer-centric, data-driven engagement solutions for providers, payers, retailers and self-insured employers – has announced its latest big funding round. As of today (July 10), the firm has captured $21.3 million in Series C funding, raised from existing and new investors that include Flare Capital Partners and 7wire Ventures.

According to the press release announcing the round, the latest infusion of funds will allow higi to “expand access points, broaden consumer engagement and bring unprecedented insights into population health workflows.”

The goal is to raise the level of the game when it comes to issues surrounding prevention and value-based outcomes.

Currently, higi is working overtime to strike partnerships with both healthcare-related organizations and retailers, with the goal of creating a “new front door in every neighborhood in the U.S.”

The firm, which already boats 11,000 FDA-cleared smart health stations, is designed to help consumers build their own longitudinal health profiles from stations located within five miles of 78 percent of the U.S. population.

In order to become that ubiquitous, the firm has struck up deals and partnerships with 80 different health devices and applications. The platform is also designed to give customers an easy touchpoint by which to connect their data into population health workflows, including electronic health records.

“Building on their vast reach and established partnerships, higi is uniquely positioned to enable healthcare organizations to improve risk stratification of their patient population and deepen their understanding of people’s health needs in real time – leading to prevention, early intervention and better care at lower costs,” said Michael Greeley of Flare Capital Partners. “This investment will accelerate the company’s growth, and provide the leverage needed to continue building deeper data-driven solutions that can truly close gaps in care. We are excited to be investing in higi, a proven company that has redefined consumer access, created a new model of consumer engagement and partnered with retail pharmacies to become the health destination of choice.”

Greeley is not higi’s only highly enthused investor.

“Simply stated, higi is making healthcare easier for people,” said Tom Main of 7wire Ventures. “higi is creating unprecedented access in people’s neighborhoods, giving consumers a trusted health narrative and connecting people to the full scope of the retail store and local healthcare service providers. We see closing the access gap, connecting the dots and changing consumer engagement as a sound investment. higi increases the scope of consumer information and the frequency of interactions, creating unprecedented insights and changing the game on prevention, early intervention and real-time care team adjustments. higi is the new frontier.”

The bigger vision of higi is one where consumers are seeking care in a preventative context, instead of waiting for issues to crop up and require more involved (and often more expensive) treatment. Key to that plan, according to higi, is strategically including retailers as an easy, universal and unthreatening access point for healthcare – or as a possible front door. Greater prominence means more access and, hopefully, eventually more affordability.

“We are pleased to have raised over $21 million during this round. The significant investor interest reinforces higi’s unique position to connect consumers with payers and providers to deliver the services they need,” said higi CEO Jeff Bennett. “As retailers continue to bring healthcare solutions into their storefronts and consumers are looking for more effective means to manage their health, higi is forging this path by providing convenient and free ways to measure, connect and act on health information. This is an exciting time for our company to grow with our healthcare customers, and to help healthcare systems improve consumer engagement, close gaps in care, lower costs and ultimately improve outcomes.”

Engaging consumers in their health since 2012, higi has been used by an estimated 47 million people, conducting over 271 million biometric tests to create the foundation for deep knowledge about consumer engagement and the translation of the health narrative to prevention, early intervention and real-time care team adjustments. Find out more about higi.