Chicago, April 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Rightfield Solutions, LLC, developers of Emmi(TM), Expectation Management and Medical Information, announced today that the company has successfully completed a second round of funding, adding $4.1 million in new capital to the company. According to Mark Achler, president of Rightfield Solutions, the funding was secured from private sources.
Achler says that the new capital will allow the company to continue to build on current growth and expand nationally through the addition of a new sales team, further product development and additional marketing efforts.
Created as a risk management tool for physicians and payers, Emmi educates pre-surgical patients about scheduled procedures through a series of interactive, Internet-based patient education programs. Emmi is designed to dramatically improve patient satisfaction while reducing the number of, and severity of, malpractice claims.
“We believe the potential for Emmi is significant,” said Achler. “Physicians, insurers, health plans and other payers are desperate for timely and effective tools to fight against, and take control over, escalating malpractice premiums. Emmi gives them exactly what they need.”
Reducing malpractice risks and costs is a major priority within the healthcare industry today. The median medical malpractice jury award was $1.01 million in 2002. Legal fees range from $500,000 to $1 million and premiums escalate further with each claim. Achler believes a product such as Emmi can help to avert considerable costs. The company estimates the average insurer could achieve a return on investment of 34:1 if one malpractice suit in five years were avoided. Physicians may also gain additional value by avoiding the time required to fight a claim and the damage to their reputation that occurs with malpractice lawsuits.
A number of national studies have shown that the majority of medical malpractice lawsuits are the result of missed patient expectations rather than failures of the physician. “In essence, what we do is take difficult, intimidating, and often scary information about upcoming surgeries and present it in an easy-to-understand, conversational, almost comforting manner,” said Achler. “While the patient is being educated, we are creating a permanent record of everything the patient saw, heard and responded to. As a result, Emmi is the only program that can provide definitive proof that a patient was informed of all of the risks associated with a given procedure.”
Insurers and other payers recognize the value of this approach. “We are in the business of defending doctors in malpractice suits and we are particularly pleased with the capabilities we will have for tracking each individual patient’s responses in a permanent record for use in a later defense if needed,” said Victoria Sterling, J.D., senior vice president and general counsel, OMS National Insurance Company. “We believe that Emmi can reduce risk, save medical professionals time, and most importantly improve levels of satisfaction among patients.”
Launched in 2003, patent-pending Emmi is already managing risk and improving patient satisfaction for more than 9,000 patients, 300 surgeons and a leading medical malpractice insurance carrier. Additional strategic alliances with key insurers, medical associations and provider groups will be announced in 2004.
Achler, well-known in Chicago’s venture capital market, says that he became involved with Rightfield Solutions for several reasons; including his belief that Emmi is a highly scalable business model that also provides the potential for high gross margins. “While I see tremendous business potential for Emmi, I am also involved with the company because it is a socially responsible investment,” he said. “We are offering world-class education to help patients have more realistic expectations about their surgeries, while providing a solution to rapidly escalating malpractice premiums.”
About Emmi
Developed by Chicago-based Rightfield Solutions, LLC, Emmi(TM), Expectation Management and Medical Information, is a risk management tool that provides patients with a series of interactive, internet-based patient education programs to provide an electronic informed consent tool that not only educates, but documents patients’ review of important materials. While just introduced in late 2003, Emmi is already being used by more than 9,000 patients, 300 surgeons and a leading medical malpractice insurer. There are currently Emmi programs available for a wide range of specialties, including obstetrics/gynecology, plastic surgery, cardiovascular surgery, orthopedics, gastric bypass, oral surgery and LASIK. Within the year, Rightfield Solutions plans to have Emmi presentations available for more than 100 procedures.
For additional information on Emmi, visit http://www.rightfield.net/ or contact Mark Achler at 312-236-3650, extension 12. For an Emmi demo, please visit http://www.emmidemo.com/.
Rightfield Solutions, LLC
CONTACT: Brenna Harrington of Scott Public Relations, +1-800-396-8470,brenna.scottpr@mac.com, for Rightfield Solutions, LLC
