Tele911 Raises a Seed Round to Bring Virtual Care to EMS
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Tele911 Inc., a technology-enabled healthcare start-up company, has closed a multimillion-dollar seed round with strategic investors Takeda Digital Ventures and the Laerdal Million Lives Fund.
With this critical funding round, Tele911 will become the new trusted partner for emergency medical services (EMS) triage and make a profound impact on healthcare quality and costs. At a time when up to 85% of patients transported to an emergency room by ambulance can be safely treated at home or a clinic, Tele911 integrates telemedicine and patient navigation into local EMS systems. This empowers first responders to provide patient-centered care which allows safe treatment in place or transport to alternate destinations, while avoiding medically unnecessary ambulance transports to overcrowded ERs. Tele911 keeps paramedics available for time-critical calls, reduces healthcare system costs, and saves lives.
Tele911 co-founder and CEO Marc Eckstein, MD, is a double board-certified EMS and emergency physician and the former Medical Director and Commander of the EMS Bureau of the Los Angeles Fire Department. He saw firsthand the many challenges facing EMS systems. Medically unnecessary ambulance transports contribute to 18 million avoidable ER visits each year, resulting in $47 billion in costs to the U.S. healthcare system and tragic loss of lives caused by delayed paramedic responses.
"I introduced many innovative solutions into EMS in my 30 years of experience in emergency medicine. Virtual care integrated into the 911 system has a massive potential to improve patient outcomes, address social determinants of health, provide linkage to care, and significantly reduce costs," Eckstein said. "With the financial and strategic support of the Laerdal Million Lives Fund and Takeda Digital Ventures, we can work together to realize this potential."
"Tele911 links patients to the right services to meet their needs. Not every patient who calls 911 requires ambulance transport to an ER. Tele911 leverages innovation and technology – such as virtual visits from emergency physicians and social workers – to deliver safe, timely, and appropriate care for patients who call 911," said Claudia Colciago, investment manager at Takeda Digital Ventures. "For many healthcare consumers, especially vulnerable populations, the 911 system is an important access point for a diverse set of healthcare needs, and we are excited to support Tele911 in unlocking virtual care at the point of EMS dispatch for the first time."
"We continue to see an increasing role for EMS systems in the delivery of primary healthcare services in the U.S., and we are excited to invest in technology solutions and tools that can empower these front door first responders," said Jeff Trost, managing partner at the Laerdal Million Lives Fund. "By ensuring patients receive the right care at the right time and place regardless of how they enter the healthcare system, we feel Tele911 can make a profound impact on not just healthcare costs, but also healthcare quality."
The expertise of Takeda Digital Ventures and the Million Lives Fund positions Tele911 for exponential growth. The pandemic has underscored the critical need to transform EMS, and Tele911 is now uniquely positioned to make this transformation happen.
About Tele911, Inc.
Tele911, Inc. is a healthcare technology company delivering telemedicine and patient navigation solutions tailored to the emergency medical services sector. The company was founded by leaders in emergency medicine, including Dr. Marc Eckstein, who has implemented and executed various patient-centered care programs during his time as an EMS Medical Director in Southern California. Tele911 developed a technology platform that allows for integrated clinical workflows to ensure efficient triage, treatment-in-place and delivery of patient care in the appropriate setting, supporting the needs of local EMS agencies, health systems and local and national payor and risk-bearing organizations. For more information, visit www.tele911.com.
About Takeda Digital Ventures
Takeda Digital Ventures (TDV) is the digital health venture arm of Takeda, a global, values-based, R&D-driven biopharmaceutical leader headquartered in Japan, committed to discover and deliver life-transforming treatments, guided by a commitment to patients, people and the planet. Takeda Digital Ventures invests in companies that are using digital technologies to improve patient outcomes and improve delivery of care in areas that contribute to Takeda's data and digital transformation. For more information, visit www.takeda.com/tdv.
About Laerdal Million Lives Fund
The Million Lives Fund invests in entrepreneurs who are developing and deploying new, emerging technologies capable of improving and extending lives, and enhancing healthcare quality and outcomes regardless of demographics or geography. The $100 million fund targets commercial-stage technology companies whose solutions can improve mortality rates to help reach its goal of helping to save 1 million lives annually by 2030. Investments span medical education innovations, remote patient monitoring solutions, tech-enabled care models, predictive analytics tools, and clinical decision support solutions. For more information, visit www.laerdalmillionlives.com.
