KCK health startup scores $270K to give patients a voice
July 30, 2015 | Bobby Burch
An area startup is using a recent injection of funds to better provide hospitals with valuable feedback from patients.
PatientsVoices, based in Kansas City, Kan., nabbed $270,000 from several organizations to boost its technology that analyzes and distributes information about patients’ experiences. Organizations such as the National Science Foundation, Google and Digital Sandbox KC each provided funding to the company.
“[The funding] gives us the ability to build and evaluate different versions of our software to see what works best,” PatientsVoices founder Mary Kay O’Connor said in a release. “The development team can test different software configurations without having to worry about processing costs and storage capacity.”
The National Science Foundation issued a $150,000 grant to the company, while Google offered $100,000 in credit on Google Cloud, where the platform is currently operating in a HIPPA-secure environment. Digital Sandbox, a Kansas City-based business incubator, provided a $20,000 grant to design and implement a dashboard allowing clients to access patients’ feedback.
PatientsVoices recruited area experts in computing and linguistics to help build the platform, which is now being tested in hospitals after the company. O’Connor said the platform automatically sorts feedback into improvement priorities from a patient’s perspective. It also demonstrates to hospital administrators how to improve patient satisfaction.
PatientsVoices is currently located in the Bioscience & Technology Business Center, a University of Kansas-based business incubator that has offices in Kansas City, Kan., and Lawrence. The BTBC applied to become a Google registered incubator and then nominated PatientsVoices for the $100,000 Google Cloud credit.
“Mary Kay’s unique business model improves patient satisfaction through a process that actually lowers costs and improves information capture and flow,” BTBC Vice President Frank Kruse said in a release. “The company’s technology dramatically and measurably improves a hospital’s ability to improve operations and patient outcomes on the fly. This is unheard of in the current environment.”
Featured Business
2015 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Denise Kruse: So your startup landed its first big client — now what?
Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. As a startup, it takes hard work to get a potential client through the door. You have to get them to believe in your business model and product or service you’re offering; wow them with your expertise and industry knowledge; and finally, close the…
Husch Blackwell’s Jeff Simon hopes outreach, Techweek grow KC’s organic startup community
Editor’s note: This story is sponsored by Techweek, but independently produced by Startland News. Give now, get later. That’s the mindset Jeff Simon, managing partner of Husch Blackwell’s Kansas City office, instills in his team of attorneys to not only encourage networking, but also build a stronger Kansas City. Empowering his attorneys with autonomy to…
Whiteboard2Boardroom schools startup on valuable connections
Without Whiteboard2Boardroom, many student-led innovations might be forever stalled in the world of academia. Instead, the program is credited with helping to accelerate the commercialization of such projects to the tune of 129 new jobs and $26.2 million in follow-on funding, according to a recent progress report. W2B has worked with 35 startups and engaged…
Techstars Spotlight: Sexy STEM jobs? They’re not for everyone, NexusEdge says
Shanti Akkineni and Eddie Lin are self-proclaimed “serial job hoppers.” It’s a frustrating reality for many, Akkineni said, because of a lack of mentorship accessibility and job awareness. She herself has experienced employment in five different industries within a decade, she said. “I would go to work Monday morning, sit at my desk and not…