HARTFORD, Conn. and EMERYVILLE, Calif., June 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Conning Capital Partners, a Connecticut-based private equity firm, announced today that it led a $10 million financing round for RelayHealth Corporation, a premier provider of online doctor-patient communication services. The completed round also included strong continuing support from existing RelayHealth investors: US Venture Partners, Venrock Associates, Lilly Ventures (the venture capital arm of Eli Lilly and Company), and SI Venture Management (a Gartner Group affiliate). Proceeds will be used to fund expanded product capabilities and regional operations in response to the rapid growth in RelayHealth's roster of reimbursing health plan customers in key U.S. healthcare markets.
"We are delighted to join RelayHealth's impressive group of investors, and look forward to helping guide the company through its growth phase over the coming year," said Diane Daych, Principal at Conning Capital Partners, who will be joining the company's board. "Based on our rigorous review of its business, business model, and market, we believe that RelayHealth has the service model, technology, client base, and management team to become a dominant leader in this newly emerging healthcare category."
Since mid-2003, RelayHealth has entered into a series of agreements with major health plans, and developed local market operations across six states -- California, New York, Florida, Massachusetts, Tennessee and Colorado. During this same period, RelayHealth signed licensing arrangements with over a dozen leading medical organizations in these states.
This growth comes on the heels of a Blue Shield of California-sponsored independent study, conducted by researchers at Stanford University and University of California at Berkeley, including 282 physicians and over 5,700 patients. Researchers reported that the service significantly reduced medical office-based healthcare claims costs. They also found patients highly satisfied with the improved access to care offered through RelayHealth, and physicians willing to adopt and use the technology in support of health plan- reimbursed online care for their established patients. The majority of physicians surveyed preferred reimbursed webVisits over office visits when communicating with patients presenting a non-urgent need.
In January of 2004, the American Medical Association announced the issuance of a new billing (CPT) code for services like the webVisit, further recognizing this emerging channel of healthcare, and enabling HIPAA-compliant electronic claims submission from RelayHealth to its health plan partners.
"We are pleased to have earned the trust of a firm with Conning Capital Partners' reputation and history," said Giovanni Colella M.D., president and chief executive officer of RelayHealth. "Their expertise complements our Board of Directors and their experience growing healthcare service businesses will be extremely valuable as we expand our presence in key U.S. markets.
About Conning Capital Partners
Conning Capital Partners is a private equity firm dedicated to building exceptional growth companies. Focus investment areas include financial services, insurance, healthcare services and business services. With over $500 million currently under management and over 70 investments completed since 1985, Conning Capital Partners is a leading source of growth capital for entrepreneurial-led companies. For more information on Conning Capital Partners, go to http://www.conningcapital.com/.
About RelayHealth Corporation
RelayHealth is the premier provider of secure online healthcare communication services linking patients, healthcare professionals, payors, and pharmacies. RelayHealth's Internet-based, doctor-patient communication platform connects doctors and their patients efficiently, affordably, and securely. Tuned for both the small and large group practice environment, the RelayHealth(R) service improves and streamlines healthcare delivery and access through modular features, including the webVisit(R). The webVisit facilitates clinically structured, payor reimbursed online visits between doctors and their established patients. More secure and efficient than telephone or e-mail, RelayHealth combines HIPAA-ready online communication and eScript(R) end-to-end electronic prescribing for the most seamless, comprehensive, and powerful communication platform available to healthcare professionals and their patients. For information, visit http://www.relayhealth.com/.
RelayHealth CorporationCONTACT: Anne Steinberg, anne@kitchenpr.com or Greg Jones,gjones@kitchenpr.com, +1-212-687-8999, or Conning Capital Partners; orBriana Pompei of RelayHealth Corporation, +1-510-428-7853, orbriana.pompei@relayhealth.com
Web site: http://www.relayhealth.com/
