Following booming growth period, virtual diabetes care management company receives additional Series B funding and adds to team of expert advisors
SOMERVILLE, Mass., August 19, 2020 — Podimetrics, a virtual care management company with the leading solution to help prevent costly and deadly diabetic amputations, announced that Dr. Foluso Fakorede, Doug Ghertner and David Joyner have joined the company’s advisory board. This comes as the company closes its Series B-2 funding round with additional contributions from existing investors Polaris Partners, Rock Health, Norwich Ventures, and Scientific Health Development. The investment puts the total Series B funding at $24.6 million.
Diabetes Care Management
“The pandemic has underscored the need to care for our most vulnerable patients, but this population often lacks access to preventative care and most virtual solutions haven’t been able to reach them either,” said Dr. Jon Bloom, Podimetrics co-founder and CEO. “We’ve seen tremendous demand because of our ability to successfully keep at-risk patients healthy at home by combining remote physiologic monitoring and targeted care management.”
Podimetrics has seen more than 300-percent growth in the first half of 2020 compared to the year prior. Podimetrics’ new advisors will bring their expertise to the company as their commercial presence quickly expands.
Dr. Fakorede is an endovascular specialist and the CEO of Cardiovascular Solutions of Central Mississippi, which provides comprehensive cardiovascular care, and Fusion Vascular, an outpatient lab focused on preventive vascular medicine and limb salvage. Dr. Fakorede’s practice works to provide interventions that are more cost effective and less drastic then most hospital-based interventions, helping to curb the rate of diabetic amputations in an underserved geography with high rates of diabetes.
“Despite being largely preventable, diabetic amputations are a tremendous problem in this country, especially in the African-American community where patients are three times more likely to lose a limb,” says Dr. Fakorede, who was also recently profiled in ProPublica. “Podimetrics is on the frontlines of curbing this epidemic, and I’m excited to work with them to help bring their preventive solution to more patients in need.”
Mr. Ghertner is CEO of IVX Health, which provides biologic injections and infusions in a private, convenient, and comfortable setting for patients with a range of complex chronic conditions. He has over 20 years of experience in the health care industry, including senior roles at CVS Health, Change Healthcare, and Emdeon. Most recently, he was CEO of Change Healthcare, a technology company that provides data and analytics-driven solutions to improve clinical, financial and patient engagement outcomes, prior to its sale to Emdeon.
Mr. Joyner is the former Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing and member of the Executive Leadership Team for CVS Health. In this position, Mr. Joyner oversaw all sales and marketing functions, representing over $140 billion in annual PBM revenues. He has more than 34 years of healthcare experience with extensive knowledge of all payor markets including employer, health plan and government. He also has a proven record leading businesses and high performance teams through both rapid organic and M&A growth.
In addition to Dr. Fakorede, Mr. Ghertner, and Mr. Joyner, Podimetrics’ board of scientific and health care industry advisors includes:
- Dr. David Armstrong, Professor of Clinical Surgery at the University of Southern California, and Professor of Surgery and Director, Southwestern Academic Limb Salvage Alliance;
- Dr. Kenneth Kizer, former VA Undersecretary for Health, founding President and CEO of the National Quality Forum, former Chief Medical Officer for the California Department of Managed Health Care, and current Co-Chair of the National Quality Task Force;
- Dr. Larry Lavery, Professor of Plastic Surgery, Orthopedic Surgery, and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Medical Director of UT Southwestern’s Comprehensive Wound Care Center, and Director of the Amputation Prevention Program at Parkland Memorial Hospital; and
- Dr. Paul Manberg, former executive of regulatory and clinical development programs at CSA Medical Inc. Covidien, Aspect Medical Systems, and EMD Serono.
“Over the past several years, the VHA has found the results of our partnership to be ‘nothing short of staggering,’” said Bloom. “With this additional funding and critical expertise, we will be able to advance our efforts to reach even more at-risk patients, both within the Veterans Health Administration and beyond in the private payer market.”
Podimetrics was founded in 2011 by a physician, engineers, and graduates from MIT and Harvard. Its services are used by patients across the country, including in more than 40 VA medical facilities. Its SmartMat™ is FDA-cleared, has the American Podiatric Medical Association Seal of Approval, and is manufactured in Massachusetts.
About Podimetrics Podimetrics is a virtual, diabetes care management company with the leading solution to help prevent costly and deadly diabetic amputations. We provide high-risk patients our FDA-cleared SmartMat through partnerships with payers and at-risk providers, including the Veterans Health Administration. After placing their feet on the mat for just 20 seconds a day, patients’ data are automatically sent to our care management team, which helps address any concerning findings. By combining cutting-edge technology with best-in-class care management, Podimetrics earns high engagement rates from patients and allows clinicians to achieve unparalleled outcomes saving limbs, lives, and money. Founded in 2011 by a physician and engineers from MIT and Harvard, Podimetrics is headquartered in Somerville, MA and backed by Norwich Ventures, Scientific Health Development, Polaris Partners, and Rock Health. For more information, go to www.podimetrics.com or follow us on Twitter @podimetrics.
