Like many others in the healthcare industry, Chicago startup Upfront is seeing an increase in business as the coronavirus pandemic continues.
Founded in 2015, Upfront operates a platform that analyzes visits at healthcare facilities. And using data science, it helps providers generate scheduling and logistics improvements that can make them more efficient and profitable in the future.
Launched by Ben Albert and Carrie Kozlowski, Upfront helps its clients better prepare for patient visits and more appropriately assign patient visits to different staff members.
“The mission is to get every patient the care that they need,” Albert said.
Upfront says it has seen the number of hospitals it works with double to 60 amid the coronavirus crisis. It is currently working with healthcare systems like DuPage Medical Group and Riverside Health System in Virginia to provide their patients with helpful coronavirus resources.
“We’re growing very quickly,” Albert said.
If a patient’s provider uses Upfront, they will receive a link to a secure webpage with personalized and vetted information. Patients can find useful information on when to seek medical attention for COVID and can receive daily check-ins from their providers via Upfront if they've been quarantined.
As a result, Upfront says it is providing services to more than five times the number of patients it served in 2019. Healthcare systems pay for Upfront on a subscription basis, but all COVID-19-related services are free, Albert said.
The company, which currently employs more than 20 people, has raised nearly $10 million in venture capital funding from investors such as Echo Health Ventures, Nashville Capital Network, Hyde Park Venture Partners and LRVHealth.
Albert also founded Care Team Connect, which was sold to Washington, D.C.-based Advisory Board Co. in 2013 for $35 million.
