On Monday, K Health announced the completion of a $50 million equity funding round, bringing the startup’s total funding to $380 million and valuing the company at $900 million.
Founded in 2016, the New York-based startup uses AI to educate patients about their symptoms and connect them to primary care.
“Primary care is broken,” Scholl asserts. “In many markets, you wake up in the morning and you want to see your family doctor, but you have to wait a long time. Sometimes it’s easier to see a specialist than it is to see your family doctor. And your primary care doctor is supposed to be your advocate, they need to know a lot about you, they need to have a long-term relationship, they need to manage your chronic conditions, and that just doesn’t work.”
K Health has partnered with health systems, including Cedars-Sinai, to develop long-term care programs that include both in-person and virtual primary care. This hybrid care delivery model includes K’s Primary Care Chat feature, which uses AI to suggest diagnoses to patients who enter their symptoms into the startup’s chat feature, taking into account their medical history and demographic information.
According to Scholl, the platform reviews the data of around 2,000 people per day. K then suggests medical conditions and connects patients with available doctors and nurses if needed.
The company aims to improve Americans’ access to primary care by offering telehealth appointments for emergency and chronic care treatment, as well as giving uninsured patients the option to chat with a doctor for less than their out-of-pocket costs.
K’s platform is available 24/7 in 48 states, Scholl added.
He is confident his startup can stand out from competitors such as Amazon’s One Medical.
“The big advantage for us is we believe AI gives us much more favorable unit economics for our type of business. We can do more with less. Building clinics, maintaining them, collecting dues – all the work that AI does – is not our business. We think that’s where our key competitive advantage is – we can build something that is actually scalable and profitable,” Shaul explained.
With the new $50 million infusion, K plans to further hone its AI, both generative and predictive, and also begin preparing for a future IPO, he said.
With retailers like Walmart and VillageMD exiting the primary care business, K is in it for the long haul, Scholl added.
Photo: hirun, Getty Images
