Notable, a startup that automates workflow for healthcare professionals, raised $100 million in new financing this week, according to a news release.
ICONIQ Growth led the Series B funding round, with additional investments from-Prime Capital, Greylock and Oak HC/FT. Notable will use the new money to expand its existing business.
The company pitches its artificial intelligence-driven technology as a solution to the administrative and staffing issues dogging hospitals and health systems, claiming to reduce administrative work for each clinician by more than 700 hours every year.
“Healthcare faces a staffing crisis, and overwhelming administrative burden challenges providers’ ability to deliver high-quality, affordable care and world-class patient experiences,” Notable CEO and co-founder Pranay Kapadia said in a news release.
Notable’s technology scans electronic health records, automating workflows like patient pre-registration information and submitting prior authorization requests.
Researchers estimate that unnecessary administrative complexity costs the U.S. healthcare system nearly $266 billion each year, according to a 2019 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Excessive paperwork has also contributed to high rates of physician burnout, a trend exacerbated by the pandemic. A recent study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found physicians spend only about two-thirds of their time caring for patients and almost half their time using an EHR. In addition, nearly 8 in 10 doctors physicians surveyed said their burnout started before the pandemic, according to the 2021 Medscape National Physician Burnout & Suicide Report, Modern Healthcare reported.
As part of former President Donald Trump’s effort to slash red tape, CMS’ Patients over Paperwork initiative and Meaningful Measures attempted to reduce the time clinicians spend on administrative work by cutting back on reporting requirements.
President Joe Biden’s administration is also simplifying things for providers by streamlining quality reporting measures and aligning Medicare and Medicaid payment policies with those of commercial insurers.
Many experts believe that technology can help reduce the time clinicians spend on paperwork, but it hasn’t delivered on those promises yet.
Venture capitalists invested a record-breaking $23 billion in digital health during the first nine months of the year, according to data from Digital Health Business & Technology. Practice management solutions brought in $1.3 billion in investment, growing 136% compared to the same period in 2020.
Oak HC/FT and F-Prime Capital were some of the most active venture capital firms in the third quarter, investing in five and four companies, respectively.
