Connecticut Innovations Makes $375,000 Follow-On Investment in SAMI Health
Company’s revolutionary search engine tool enhances care, improves patient satisfaction
Rocky Hill, Conn., October 9, 2012 – Connecticut Innovations (CI), the state’s quasi-public authority responsible for growing Connecticut businesses through innovative financing tools and assistance, today announced that it has made a $375,000 follow-on investment in MyCare Inc. (dba SAMI Health) of Westport, Conn., through its Seed Investment Fund. CI’s investment was part of a $750,000 funding round also involving Intersection Health Partners. Earlier in 2012, CI made its first investment, of $500,000, in SAMI Health.
“We are highly encouraged by the successful deployment of SAMI at Bridgeport Hospital,” said Claire Leonardi, chief executive officer and executive director of CI. “Having demonstrated measurable results in an established local hospital, SAMI Health is well positioned to make strong inroads with other hospitals around the country.”
SAMI Health is a healthcare information technology company that is developing information solutions for hospitals and other healthcare institutions. Smart Access to Medical Information (SAMI™), the company’s initial product, is a proprietary search engine tool that allows nurses, doctors, patients and their families to access patient medical information residing in any electronic medical record (EMR) system, and analyze that data in near real-time. The product assists users with care quality, patient safety, clinical decision support, medical research and regulatory compliance. The product is layered onto an institution’s existing core EMR system(s) and is “system agnostic” (compatible with virtually all EMR systems).
SAMI has been successfully deployed at Bridgeport Hospital and is under evaluation by Yale New Haven Health System.
SAMI offers many advantages. In addition to providing output in near real-time, SAMI allows user mobility, as it can be accessed via computers, PDAs, smartphones or tablets. SAMI can also uniquely search data from any existing EMR – individually or across multiple systems simultaneously – looking for information about an individual patient or group of patients while displaying that information in a unified form. It “pushes” out relevant information to the healthcare practitioner in order to improve patient care. SAMI also makes it possible to provide appropriate information to patients and their families so they can actively participate in the progress of their own care.
“SAMI is designed to enhance care, reduce errors, improve patient satisfaction and ultimately decrease medical costs by bringing advanced Web technology to the world of electronic medical records,” said Matt Walton, chief executive officer and co-founder of SAMI Health. “SAMI is about empowering all stakeholders in healthcare delivery, especially patients and their families, with easy access to the information they need to improve health outcomes."
SAMI Health has developed four application modules in the SAMI solution: Real-time Core Measurement Compliance, Clinical Decision Support, Personalized Genomic Medicine, and Patient-Family Portal. The company is developing additional modules in response to feedback from clinical users, and patients and their families. Active discussions are under way with hospitals and health systems in the United States and Canada for future SAMI deployments.
Dan Wagner, CI managing director of investments, represents CI on SAMI Health’s board of directors.
About Connecticut Innovations Inc.
Connecticut Innovations (CI) is a quasi-public corporation providing equity, debt and bond financing and other forms of financial assistance to companies in all stages of the business life cycle, from startup to later stage. CI offers its portfolio companies strategic guidance and collaborations with partners in business, finance, education, government and nonprofit sectors. CI’s initiatives are designed to grow the state’s economic and technology base, and to stimulate business investments and job creation. For more information on CI, please visit www.ctinnovations.com.
About SAMI Health
SAMI Health is a venture-backed, Connecticut company committed to bringing disruptive search and clinical care delivery technology and services to the provision of patient care across the care delivery system. SAMI Health’s mission is to provide access to the data in any electronic medical record system to improve safety, quality, value and outcomes while empowering patients and their families to participate in the conduct of their care. For more information on SAMI Health, visit www.samihealth.com.
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