Navigating the needlessly complex Medicaid system is difficult for providers and patients alike. One startup – HealthCrowd has recently closed a $2.1 million funding round aimed at making Medicaid a bit easier for patients with text messages.
HealthCrowd provides administrative information about their health care to patients via text message. The company said it plans to reach out directly to Medicaid enrollees with this latest cash injection. The funding round included investors from 37 Angels, Band of Angels, Berkeley Angel Network, Healthy Ventures, Herlitz Capital and Startup Capital Ventures.
A recent GAO report shows that when Medicaid enrollees drop off the rolls while still eligible, or miss other administrative deadlines, costs for the program increase. However, recent pilots suggest that reminding people with a plain english text message is effective in helping people meet deadlines and stay enrolled.
According to a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation, low-income people use mobile phones as a primary means of accessing the internet, which means text messages may be more effective than email or internet forms which are more cumbersome on mobile for managing critical communications.
HealthCrowd also creates live chats, nanosites, and email reminders to help people with common healthcare reminders and to provide limited health information.
