Eon, a provider of incidental findings and screening patient management software based in Glendale, Colo., announced recently that it received a significant minority equity investment led by Los Angeles-based Integrity Growth Partners (IGP). The investment marks the first time Eon has raised an institutional round of outside capital; Eon will remain independent and founder-led.
The partnership with IGP, which includes participation from UCHealth's CARE Innovation Center (UCHealth), CU Healthcare Innovation Fund, and 25m Health, will enable accelerated growth in key business areas.
Eon provides a cloud-based patient management platform with solutions for many disease states, enabling hospitals and health systems to capture and longitudinally track patients at risk for future catastrophic diagnoses, creating a stage shift in the early detection of cancer and possible prevention of ruptured aneurysms.
Eon's platform leverages computational linguistics, an advanced form of linguistics under the artificial intelligence umbrella and robust data science models to accurately capture incidental findings in radiology reports. Eon's solution also provides care navigators with intuitive workflows for patient outreach, ensuring that at-risk patients don't "slip through the cracks" and are adherent to recommended follow-up exams and procedures.
Today, Eon is used by over 45 health systems and 400 hospital facilities across the U.S. Notable partner health systems include LifePoint Health, HCA Healthcare, Ascension, Cleveland Clinic, and SCL Health. UCHealth, in conjunction with its investment, will also begin using Eon at all of its hospitals and imaging centers through a phased implementation.
Eon Founder and Co-CEO Dr. Aki Al-Zubaidi is an interventional pulmonologist who founded Eon in 2015 to solve a clinical problem he experienced first-hand – lung cancer – and that it was most often diagnosed at a late stage where the likelihood of survival for those diagnosed was low. He knew that by tracking patients with lung nodules found early on regular radiology exams, he could diagnose lung cancer at earlier stages.
The Eon executive team raised this round to power the next phase of growth. "We believe that IGP's investment and knowledge will help us continue to execute on our mission to make patients healthier and healthcare affordable," said Dr. Aki. "Our comprehensive platform allows us to deliver tremendous value to our health system partners as they work to optimize patient outcomes and reduce patient leakage. We are thrilled to be working alongside the team at IGP, along with our other partners, and we look forward to further establishing ourselves as the leader in incidental patient management."
Historically, Eon has focused efforts on growth and revenue as a source of funding, rather than traditional fundraising partnerships, which fits IGP's investment strategy of investing in founder owned and operated companies.
"We are incredibly proud of the industry-leading software platform we have built and the work we have done to make incidental management a higher priority in healthcare. In choosing a partner, it was important for us to find one who not only understands our mission but can provide meaningful support and strategic insight as we continue to evolve; we found that in IGP," said Eon Co-CEO Christine Spraker.
"We could not be more excited to lead the first institutional investment in Eon and to partner with Dr. Aki, Spraker, and the rest of the amazing team at Eon," said Ryan Anderson, partner at IGP. "Through its industry-leading solution, Eon not only helps hospitals address the growing need to more effectively capture and manage care of at-risk patients – many of which have historically 'slipped through the cracks' – but more importantly helps providers deliver the best patient care possible, ultimately leading to improved patient outcomes."
UCHealth, an innovative, nonprofit health system based in Colorado that focuses on improving health through innovation, was evaluating Eon as a partner for their early detection of lung cancer program, when they learned of the investment opportunity. This investment, alongside sister fund CU Healthcare Innovation Fund, represents the 13th company the system has invested in.
"We are excited about the possibilities that this innovative technology may provide for our patients," said Dan Rieber, UCHealth's chief financial officer. "We hope our investment in Eon technology will help improve patient outcomes by allowing hospitals to track patients at high risk for developing serious medical conditions, like cancer, heart disease, or even an aneurysm."
Article published by icrunchdata
Image credit by Eon
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