SAN FRANCISCO (March 25, 2021)—Better Health, the next-generation medical supplier offering a seamless e-commerce experience and white-glove service to 80 million Americans with chronic conditions, has announced its official launch with the close of a $3.5 million seed round and national contracts with leading health insurers, including Oscar Health and Humana.
8VC led the round with participation from Caffeinated Capital and Anorak Ventures. They were joined by leading digital health executives Robert Hurley and Scott Flanders of eHealth.
“I’ve worked with Medicare Advantage and commercial insurers for more than 30 years,” said Robert Hurley, former president of Carrier Development and the Medicare Business at eHealth. “Patients requiring medical supplies comprise a large and growing share of health care costs, in part because these patients have high hospital readmittance rates related to their medical supplies. Better Health provides expert guidance to help patients select the right supplies and learn to use them. This improves patient lives and lowers insurers’ costs.”
Antiquated Market Meets Innovative Solution
The $60 billion home medical supplies market (also known as DME) includes all reimbursable medical devices and supplies (catheters and ostomy supplies, braces and mobility, diabetes etc.) and is serving more than 80 million Americans with chronic conditions. Traditionally, the industry, characterized by low NPS scores and manual processes, has left consumers to navigate the complexities of care by themselves.
Better Health provides a convenient and cost-effective way to help individuals with chronic conditions buy their medical supplies from home. By offering personalized product recommendations, out-of-pocket cost estimates, and handling all medical and insurance paperwork, Better Health helps its members sort through hundreds of available products to find a suite of products ideally suited to manage their unique condition and needs.
Better Health not only handles its members’ supply needs, but also helps them build the skills to successfully manage their condition at home by providing one-on-one coaching, support groups, and robust content and education as part of their membership.
Better Health is the brainchild of co-founder and CEO, Naama Stauber Breckler, a serial health care entrepreneur who previously started CompactCath, an innovative intermittent catheter solution. She realized that medical supply patients had trouble finding the right products and learning how to use their supplies properly, causing adverse outcomes.
"I knew there had to be a better way to help these patients. Better Health improves the lives of patients who use medical supplies by getting them the best products in a timely, cost-effective, and stress-free manner. More importantly, we provide our members with education and support, so they’re better prepared to manage their chronic condition in the long run.”
Drew Oetting, founding partner at 8VC which led the investment round said, “We are excited to be a part of Better Health’s journey and mission to make the process of getting medical supplies faster, easier and more transparent. The market is quite literally crying out for modernization. With the aging population's increased web savviness and agency over their health, Better Health is well positioned to thrive, riding the waves of ecommerce and telehealth into the fragmented medical supplies industry.”
Payer Partnerships
Better Health continues to expand its insurance network to be able to serve more members. The company is a Medicare-licensed provider in 48 states, in addition to working with multiple Medicaid plans and commercial plans like Humana and Oscar Health. Better Health's unique approach of bundling care and support along with medical supplies delivery increases its members’ quality of life and has been proven to reduce the risk of readmission.
Better Health is currently focused on serving patients with ostomies or chronic urological conditions, and is rapidly expanding the categories it serves to meet members’ needs.
For further information, visit joinbetter.com.
