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32-Year-Old Raises $10 Million Series B To Lower Hospital Readmission Rates With Mobile Patient Management

This article is more than 4 years old.

Jarrett Bauer checked his phone in brand marketing class. His mother texted him: Grandma was in the hospital, again—for the same heart condition that had landed her in Teaneck, New Jersey’s Holy Name Hospital just two months earlier in 2011. He did not understand how she could be readmitted; there had to be a better way to connect with clinicians to modify treatment and prevent readmission, which costs around $14,000. 

Pursuing his M.B.A. at Johns Hopkins, he cofounded Health Recovery Solutions in 2012 with his friends from undergrad at Villanova, Rohan Udeshi and Dan Priece, to lower hospital readmission by streamlining patient and provider connection via telehealth—remote and digitally managed healthcare.  

“We didn’t know where to start,” says 32-year-old Bauer, HRS’ CEO. “We just knew it was a problem, and the best companies solve problems.”

Today, Healthcare Recovery Solutions is a telehealth company that connects patients with clinicians via tablet and mobile app—providing communication, symptom surveys, activity and vitals monitoring and more. HRS enables clinicians to spot and treat trouble while the patient is home, simultaneously providing a datalog and workflow, an opportunity for data analysis to improve treatment. Bauer made the Forbes Under 30 list for Healthcare in 2016, at which point company revenue was just north of $1.5 million. This year he expects the company will make $11 million. 

Today the company announced a $10 million series B investment by Edison Partners, bringing the Hoboken, New Jersey-based company’s total funding to $16 million. With 80 full-time employees and relationships with over 150 medical centers in 39 states—notably Banner Health, WellCare Health, Northwell Health and MedStar Health—they’ve serviced 100,000 patients with over 70 medical conditions. HRS has already brought hospital readmission rates down by over 50% from the national average, with around 6% of HRS cases readmitted, and remained cash-flow positive in its eight-year history. With the new funding Bauer predicts $20 million in revenue, a near 100% increase from the previous year. 

The success of HRS mirrors the growth of telehealth solutions. According to a 2019 American Medical Association article, telehealth grew at 53% from 2016 to 2017, making it the fastest growing place in healthcare. 

“They have developed the premiere software in the [telehealth] space,” says Gregg Michaelson, the partner at Edison who led the round. “The fact they are able to engage clinicians, patients and caregivers and show results across the board was really the telltale sign for us.” 

Bauer’s goal is to impact over 1 million patients. With the funds from New Jersey-based Edison Partners, they’ll be able to hire salespeople and developers Bauer believes are essential to touch this significant chunk of Americans at risk for hospital readmission.

“Hospital walls are being broken and managing patients at home is where things are going, and we’re a huge part of that revolution,” he says.

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