Thinking Outside The Box
“Hue builds health plans around the concept of advanced primary care as the center of all patient care coordination–a “healthcare quarterback.” Their highly scalable, value-based network approach enables providers to focus on practicing medicine how they see fit based on what their communities need, spending dramatically less time on billing and administrative services.”
Flume Health Raises $30M To Redefine Health Plan Administration
MyHealthGuide Source: Flume Health / PRNewswire, 3/4/2022
NEW YORK — Flume Health, a Health-Plan-as-a-Service platform that simplifies the design and management of healthcare plans, announced that it raised $30 million in Series A funding led by Optum Ventures. New investor Cigna Ventures and existing investors Crosslink Capital, Route 66 Ventures, Accomplice, Founder Collective, Primary Venture Partners and ERA’s Remarkable Ventures Fund also participated in the round, bringing Flume’s total raise to $40 million.
Flume is focused on powering digital-first health plans tailored to patients’ unique health needs and preferences. Through its digital platform for health plan administration, Flume can empower any established or emerging health insurer or care provider to launch health plans that are tailored to the unique needs of any patient population. Managed and API-enabled, Flume operates as the fully- managed central nervous system for any health plan, allowing for unprecedented ease in novel plan building, point solution integration, and real-time member visibility.
“Flume’s focus on simplifying health plan design and management is critical to helping create health plans that truly fit the lifestyle and needs of consumers,” said Jon Sklaroff, Principal, Optum Ventures. “We believe their health plan administration tool, built on a modern digital architecture, will enable companies to deliver individualized health plans and personalized healthcare at scale.”
“Reaching our Series A milestone in just six months is a testament that our investors share our values and believe in Flume’s ability to help reinvent the shape and texture of health plans for American healthcare consumers,” said Cedric Kovacs-Johnson, CEO and founder, Flume Health. “We are excited to help people through plans that meet their unique needs and are tailored to their lifestyle.”
The evolution of healthcare plans is underway, with new companies providing an array of valuable options that deliver better care by serving the true needs of micro populations, including specific occupations, medical issues, ethnicities, gender identities, and more. Challenger health plan Firefly Health adopted Flume OS to launch its new health plan, going from concept to fully operational — with ID cards in members’ hands — within six months.
Innovative new health plans are being built around specific care models, from direct primary care to chronic disease management programs. Value-based advanced primary care practice Hue Health uses Flume to create custom health plans for self-funded employers. Hue builds health plans around the concept of advanced primary care as the center of all patient care coordination–a “healthcare quarterback.” Their highly scalable, value-based network approach enables providers to focus on practicing medicine how they see fit based on what their communities need, spending dramatically less time on billing and administrative services.
“With our combined technical expertise and Flume’s deep understanding of the intricate balance between patients, providers, and plans, we can analyze our clients’ networks and provide a truly seamless experience to our target client base—self-funded employers—and their employees,” said Jake Kerr, CEO, Hue Health.
About Flume Health
Flume Health is the first digital platform for health plan administration, replacing traditional TPAs and empowering challengers and established healthcare companies to design and launch powerful next-generation, personalized health plans. A Health-Plan-as-a-Service, Flume eliminates the complexity of designing, managing, and launching personalized healthcare plans. Companies can leverage Flume’s Health-Plan-as-a-Service operating system to take on the difficulties of delivering personalized health plans, allowing plan providers to focus on member experience. Visit www.flumehealth.com.
About Optum Ventures
Optum Ventures is the independent venture fund of Optum, a leading information and technology-enabled health services business dedicated to helping make the health system work better for everyone, and part of the UnitedHealth Group. Optum Ventures invests in digital health companies that use data and insights to help improve consumers’ access to health care services and how care is delivered and paid for, and that make the healthcare system more reliable and easier to navigate. Visit www.optumventures.com.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article describes a strategy similar to THE LISA PLAN which essentially replaces status quo TPA managed health plans. The differences include lower costs with better quality of care, better patient experience and broad provider buy-in through community efforts. The TPA continues to play an important role as record keeper but does not play a dominate role in the overall structure.
