New Funding to Allow Cricket Health to Expand Its Kidney Disease Care Model
Cricket Health has closed an $83.5 million Series B funding round that will enable it to expand its kidney disease care model.
San Francisco-based Cricket Health claims to have developed a track record of improving clinical outcomes for people with kidney disease, which in turn results in lower costs for health plan partners. In both Texas and California, across commercial and Medicare Advantage health plan partnerships, Cricket Health says it been able to create improvements in key clinical measures for its populations living with kidney disease, including:
• More than 50 percent fewer hospital admissions than the status quo;
• 77 percent of those starting dialysis do so in an outpatient setting (compared to the status quo of 40 percent);
• 45 percent who need dialysis are initiating at home (compared to the status quo of 11 percent); and
• 60 percent of those starting dialysis do so with a permanent access placed (compared to the status quo of 45 percent).
Through its StageSmart predictive analytics model, Cricket Health is able to identify patients with chronic kidney disease stages 3b and beyond with 96 percent accuracy. This allows Cricket Health to risk-stratify patient populations for plans and providers and deliver stage-specific care to those who need it most.
“In our partnership with Cricket, we’ve been able to bring even more affordability, predictability and simplicity to our customers with kidney disease,” said Tom Richards, senior vice president and global lead, strategy and business development at Cigna, in a statement. “Since May 2020, we’ve seen more than a 50 percent reduction in hospitalizations and an increase in patient autonomy in a customer’s transition to dialysis, and we look forward to continuing our partnership to help improve our customers’ experience and their health.”
The MyCricket comprehensive patient support service includes a multidisciplinary care team, peer support, and educational resources available any time virtually, as well as by telephone or in person when needed. If patients do progress to end-stage kidney disease (ESKD), Cricket Health’s evidence-based approach increases transplant referrals, increases utilization of home dialysis, and reduces unnecessary hospitalizations.
The most recent funding round was led by Valtruis. The round also includes existing investors Oak HC/FT and Cigna Ventures, as well as K2 HealthVentures and a strategic investment from Blue Shield of California. With the new funding, Cricket Health has raised a total of more than $120 million in equity and debt financing to date.
