District health care analytics firm Socially Determined is keeping its foot on the gas as the Covid-19 pandemic eases up, and intends to continue the growth it realized through the crisis.
The company, which provides data to help organizations better understand the health and social risks in their communities, is penetrating deeper into new markets across the country more than four years after launching in D.C. with a focus on health systems and providers.
It now counts a growing body of health plans, nonprofits, government organizations, life sciences companies and other corporations among its customers, “all with the same set of common questions, which is: If we knew more about what was going on in the people that we have responsibility for, could we be more efficient and effective in how we support them? And how do we do that in a way that helps them as individuals, as families, as community and, also addresses our bottom line?” said Dr. Trenor Williams, co-founder and CEO of Socially Determined.
National employers “are starting to think about, 'How do I redesign my benefit strategy to better support the risk that my employees have,' both to address health care costs and risks, but also things like absenteeism, presenteeism, productivity, recruitment or retention for an employer,” he said.
That comes as vulnerable populations across the U.S. have had higher incidents of Covid-19 infection and lower incidence of vaccination through the health emergency “and unfortunately, we in this region aren’t much different,” Williams said. But that issue has also increased interest from prospective clients for the company’s offerings, he said. “The conversation around social risk and around supporting vulnerable populations isn’t going away.”
Socially Determined aggregates publicly available data from federal, state and local sources, as well as commercial data from vendors about communities, businesses and people. It then uses that information to identify the factors that put certain communities at higher risk. During Covid, the startup expanded its business model to include the Covid-19 Social Susceptibility Index, which considers access to health care and other social risk factors such as food insecurity, housing instability, lack of transportation and social isolation. The goal: to pinpoint where pockets of risk exist and help the people who need it.
Socially Determined is now on pace to double its customer base and revenue this year, Williams said, declining to disclose financial figures. But, he said, the business counts roughly 25 clients total and more than six locally, including CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield and LifeBridge Health.
The startup is also expecting to double its headcount from 25 people year over year; it's already up to 40 and shooting for 50 by the close of 2021. It’s been hiring for data science, product, and sales and marketing positions, armed with about $6 million in funding it raised in late 2020.
The company, which has raised roughly $17 million to date, is now thinking about a Series B round heading into 2022 to fuel the next phase of growth — and as the social risk space sees “a lot of movement,” Williams said. “What that means to me is that investors are continuing to value the space and put their money where our mouths are out there as entrepreneurs.”
Going forward, Socially Determined is also not ruling out acquisitions, thinking about whether it might need other assets or partnerships to have its intended impact, Williams said. “We have to consider those things, I think, as a good company and a participant in this ecosystem,” he added.
Williams has a background as a family doctor and health system executive, and as an entrepreneur: He co-founded D.C.-based health care consulting firm Clinovations and later sold it to The Advisory Board Co., whose health care business in turn sold to Optum Health.
