Index Health - Personalized Virtual Care Getting to the Root Cause of Chronic Conditions
The Driver:
Index Health, a Miami-based startup focused on personalized health data analysis, recently raised $6M in a seed round. Index Health’s seed funding was co-led by LAUNCHub Ventures and Inovo Venture partners. The company uses precision medicine to focus on “root cause” analysis to help identify disease. The new seed funding will help with the hiring of new medical staff and professional engineering talent. Index Health is to expand the services across the country in order to reach 1 million members in three years and bring their personalized medicine to a larger population.
Key Takeaways:
Index Health states that they collect 1,000+ data points using advanced lab tests, to make the most precise overview of why a disease is occurring in an individual’s body
91% of patients say that it has become easier for them to manage prescriptions and visit their specialists regularly thanks to telehealth-based services (Medical Economics)
According to Index Health, their first cohort of test patients registered an 80% improvement via the root-cause method compared to what was tried before with chronic disease treatment
Index Health claims that its data-driven approach is close to three times cheaper than prescription-based treatment of chronic diseases, saving $4,000 per year for its customers.
The Story:
Index Health was founded in December 2020 by CEO Luka Ivicevic and Gabriel Holbach. Ivicevic wanted to spotlight functional medicine/root cause medicine after having seen his mother fall ill and have to endure many trips to the doctor with no cure for her illness. It was not until she saw a functional medicine doctor who used personalized care after evaluating her whole medical background from childhood to adulthood that she was able to find some relief. After seeing his mom get better in a year’s time, he thought to himself why was this not a regular type of medical care that was offered to all? At that moment, Index Health became a reality.
The company’s goal is to offer its patients a more in-depth look at their illnesses by offering a more complete, patient-centered type of approach. This approach includes advanced lab testing that collects over 1,000 data points on patients, personalized care plans, nutritionist appointments, and more. The company’s approach assesses a patient’s full medical history to help identify the root cause of a chronic illness. According to the company, Index health doesn’t just want to identify and treat the illness, they want to make sure you stay healthy by creating an individualized plan that will address all the key factors in your life such as nutrition, physical health, and mental and emotional stress. They believe prevention is key and will help the patient stay healthy long-term.
The Differentiator:
Index Health’s care team is comprised of a multi-disciplinary group of nutritionists, doctors, and care managers. As noted in a recent article in TechCrunch, the company’s “main focus is on cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hormones, and auto-immune conditions, where its members regularly speak to their physician and nutritionist”. The startup says it collects over 1,000+ data points per single lab test and session.
Index health members sign up for a 12-month membership that costs $179.00 and includes 5 doctor visits, 3 nutrition visits, access to lab testing, a personalized treatment plan, and unlimited messaging. According to the company, a member’s visit will include a one-hour session to go over their health background as well as their health plan with Index going forward.
The company was originally founded in Miami, Florida but has since expanded to Virginia and New Hampshire. With this funding, the company plans to expand services nationally, accept insurance and offer services direct to consumers. According to the company, their precision medicine approach is reported to be at least three times more cost-effective versus prescription based-treatment that focuses on patients’ chronic treatments.
The Big Picture:
Index Health's goal is to use its precision medicine approach to get to the root cause of a patient's illness and to better understand and more effectively treat them. Index’s plan is to a hybrid approach of in-person and virtual care to treat chronic disease. By focusing on the use of lab work to uncover medical issues and by working with a patient’s full history, they expect this approach to be the most useful. For example, according to Insider Intelligence 71% of patients preferred to use telehealth visits to discuss lab/test results, 72% used it to review medication options, and overall, 94% of patients said they would use telehealth because of its ease and satisfaction. In addition, given Index dedicates an hour to meet with patients, using a hybrid approach will likely be more cost-effective and convenient. With the advancements made in diagnosing and treating disease with precision medicine, such advances hold great potential.
Post-pandemic, Telemedicine startups are evolving — this one just raised $6M for its hybrid approach, Miami-based Index Health secures $6M seed round
