Startup Daymark Brings Value-Based Care Approach to Extending Oncology Care
Daymark Health, a startup focused on improving the cancer care experience, has launched with an $11.5 million seed funding round co-led by Maverick Ventures and Yosemite, with additional participation from Oncology Ventures.
The Philadelphian company began operations this year in partnership with a payer in the Northeast to provide evidence-based, supportive cancer care to more than 2,500 cancer patients.
Daymark was founded to address the clinical, mental health, and social needs of patients with cancer, delivered through a cancer care platform and a value-based care model that takes on total cost of care risk contracts for health plans. Through partnerships with payers, Daymark said, its community-based team of nurse practitioners, nurses, social workers, and health partners works in tandem with a patient’s own oncologists and primary care providers to optimize the delivery of care, both virtually and in the home. It offers care navigation, 24/7 support, mental health assistance, symptom management, and social support.
In a statement, Justin Bekelman, M.D., CEO and co-founder of Daymark Health and an oncologist and former leader of Penn Medicine’s Center for Cancer Care Innovation at the Abramson Cancer Center, described the company’s mission: “Despite the advances in cancer treatment made over the past 50 years, patients still face a fragmented health system that gets in the way of comprehensive, personalized cancer care,” he said. “We are delighted to launch our care platform to patients across the country and set a new standard of cancer care, one that will redefine what’s possible in oncology.”
Alongside Bekelman, Daymark has assembled team of oncology and value-based care leaders. Roy Beveridge, former chief medical officer of Humana and U.S. Oncology, joins Daymark as executive board chair, and Ezekiel Emanuel, an architect of the Affordable Care Act, joins Daymark as clinical advisory board chair.
Daymark was launched out of Healthcare Foundry, with Robert Pahlavan and Jonathan Rhodes as co-founders – both of whom have assumed roles within Daymark to support the company’s growth and operations.
