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Chamber Cardio Inc. is pushing deeper into a national expansion, betting it can drive down health care costs and improve care for heart disease patients — starting in Greater Washington.
The 2-year-old D.C. startup is now growing its team, provider network and partnerships with insurance companies thank to the $8 million it raised in the spring, the bulk of its lifetime funding. The company has already built up a network of more than 100 cardiology providers in its short existence, and added another four employees in just as many months.
It’s the start of a much larger vision to “impact as many lives as we can of those suffering from heart disease,” co-founder and CEO George Aloth, an insurance industry veteran, told us in March.
Chamber aims to help cardiologists shift to value-based care models, to improve quality of care by basing insurance reimbursement on outcomes rather than per each service provided.
The company provides the cardiology practices its tech platform, which offers insights into their patients and handles administrative work. Chamber takes its revenue from associated cost savings, as do the cardiologists and insurers.
The concept — and business model — are not unique within health care, but more common in primary care and other specialty areas, such as nephrology and oncology.
“It’s crucial to emphasize the magnitude of the problem we’re addressing,” Aloth said previously, citing data that show cardiovascular care is leading cost for both employers and health plans at about $450 million in 2022 alone.
“This highlights the urgent need for the adoption of value-based care,” he said, noting that about 120 million Americans suffer from some form of heart disease and that it disproportionately affects people of low socioeconomic status. “The need for change is undeniable.”
Chamber Cardio Inc.
- CEO: George Aloth
- Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
- Total funding raised: $9.5 million
- Full-time employees: 11
- Revenue: Less than $1 million
