Original article by Annie Burky

KeyCare, the only telehealth platform developed in collaboration with Epic Systems, has received $24 million in series A funding. A fantastic feat proving that KeyCare provides undeniable value and promise for growth and impact.

The series was supported by 8VC, LRV Health, Bold Capital, and Spectrum Health Ventures, who believed in the platform’s ability to increase digital access to care through its proprietary system. In a statement, KeyCare stated that, unlike other telehealth platforms, it provides a one-stop shop for digital health needs that are unified by Epic’s electronic health records system. During a period of record healthcare staffing shortages, the company acknowledged the demand for such services.

This level of foresight proved definitive in securing KeyCare’s credibility amongst donors. Their success was no fluke. 

In an email to Fierce Healthcare, KeyCare’s founder and CEO, Lyle Berkowitz, M.D., stated that the platform’s certified usage of Epic’s EHR enables a wide range of care, including primary, specialty, and remote patient monitoring. According to Berkowitz, another key benefit of the system is its capacity to communicate patient data and scheduling between the platform and health system providers.

He stressed how the partnership’s benefits filter down to patients. Patients are not compelled to navigate multiple systems by allowing doctors to view and amend their records. KeyCare claims that medical experts licensed across state lines can directly update the records of patients’ primary care physicians on the platform, removing the need for patients to act as a medical go-between.

“People expect a connected and convenient digital care experience,” said Alan Hutchison, Epic’s vice president of population health. “Rather than routing patients through a disconnected, standalone system, KeyCare unifies the virtual care experience in concert with participating hospitals and health systems.”

And the KeyCare system works, mainly for its spectacular performance. Berkowitz described a scenario in which a patient uses their health system’s MyChart interface to schedule an urgent care visit. Even if the patient is out of state or seeking care late at night or during peak hours, they can readily obtain care from a virtual practitioner. 

Patients can obtain care without ever leaving their health system portal, creating new logins, or entering their medical history. An “after visit summary” will be immediately shared with the patient’s health system’s MyChart portal following the visit. The technology was successfully tested in July in collaboration with Beaumont Health and Spectrum Health West Michigan Division.

Patients requiring regular treatment are channeled to virtual care providers, allowing office-based physicians and staff to focus on patients requiring in-person care, according to Berkowitz. KeyCare thinks that by easing patients’ continuing transition to virtual spaces, the population receiving therapy will grow.

“After working with numerous telehealth providers in the past, I can say with confidence that there is no other virtual care platform that can match KeyCare’s capabilities,” affirmed Mandy Reed, BHSH Spectrum Health West Michigan’s director of virtual health operations, confirming KeyCare’s ascent in the medical sphere.

KeyCare is the medical revolution we have all been waiting for, and its success is a great sign for all of us.