*By Christian Smith* The medtech start-up Heal has raised $20 million with plans to expand its house-call service to more cities in the United States. The company announced its latest round of funding Tuesday, bringing the amount that the three year-old company has raised to more than $69 million. Heal's co-founder and CEO Nick Desai said he wants to use the new capital to expand and improve the technology that doctors can use to treat patients. "The secrete sauce of Heal thus far has been to lower the operating costs of everything from booking and billing compared to a traditional office so that our doctors can do house calls," Desai said Tuesday in an interview with Cheddar. "Now we want to innovate technologies for the in-home care so that doctors have more data and more intelligence with which to deliver more precision care to patients." The new investment comes from Bascom Ventures, Inflection Capital, IRA Capital, RLJ Equity Partners, Trans-Pacific Partners, and others including BET founder Robert Johnson, who told Cheddar he got involved with the start-up to help reach minority communities. "It brings health care to people who in many cases are under-served because of their neighborhood, because of their economic status, or other factors that deprive them of the quality health care that most people would like to have," Johnson said. As health care costs continue to rise across the country, Heal said it's looking to offer a more affordable option. The company has said its tech platform lowers operating costs and medical bureaucracy by 65 percent, leading to lower prices for patients. Heal is one of a handful of health care start-ups that are looking to change the traditional patient-practice structure, where doctors see an average of 40 patients a day. One Medical is a primary care start-up with a membership model that cuts costs by limiting the number of patients its doctors see daily and using video consultations instead of in-office visits. Doctor On Demand, another new primary care option, [recently raised $74 million](https://techcrunch.com/2018/04/25/video-consultation-service-doctor-on-demand-raised-74-million-so-everyone-can-see-a-doctor-anytime/) to expand its video consultation service capabilities. Though these tech-based care providers only make up a small part of the health care market, major insurance companies are getting on board. Heal is an in-network PPO option for Blue Shield of California, Health Net, Anthem Blue Cross, Aetna, United Health Care, CareFirst, and other plans. Outside of an accepted healthcare plan, patients can see a Heal doctor at home for $99. Since launching in March 2015, Heal doctors have made more than 60,000 house calls. The service is available in most major cities in California and in Washington, D.C., and Northern Virginia. For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/doctor-house-call-start-up-heal-expanding).

Share:
More In Technology
Crypto Group's Bid to Win Copy of U.S. Constitution Falls Short
A group of crypto enthusiasts pooled over $40 million dollars in an attempt to win a copy of the U.S. Constitution last week. However, their efforts came up short, as hedge fund billionaire Ken Griffin emerged as the victor in a $43.2 million Sotheby's auction. Matt Cutler, CEO & Co-Founder of Blocknative, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he explains why ConstitutionDAO ultimately came up short.
Gparency Raises $15 Million to Revolutionize Commercial Real Estate Industry
Gparency, a company that says its mission is to revolutionize the commercial mortgage industry, raised $15 million in its first funding round - representing the largest ever seed round in the commercial real estate space. Gparency's service will allow landlords and real estate developers to receive funding directly from banks, without the need for a mortgage broker. The company says its new approach will give power back to the consumer. Gparency founder and CEO Ira Zlotowitz joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Google and T-Pain Promote Black Owned Friday in Shoppable Film for the Holidays
Rapper and singer T-Pain is teaming up with Google this holiday season to encourage shoppers to support Black-owned businesses on Black Friday. Stephanie Horton, the director of marketing for Google Shopping, joined Cheddar to provide some details about T-Pain's new song, featuring Normani, in a new shoppable interactive film for the promotion. She also explained how Google worked with local artists in various states to create shoppable murals, where products seen in the artwork are discoverable online by simply pointing your camera at it.
Adele Gets Spotify to Remove Album Shuffling as Default Option
Per a request from the UK singing sensation Adele after her new album "30" dropped on Friday, Spotify removed shuffle play as the default for albums. Adele tweeted about her request to the streaming service, arguing that an album's track sequence is intentional and that the songs should be listened to in that order.
Bobby Kotick Considers Leaving Activision Blizzard if He Can't Quickly Fix Culture: Report
Caleb Silver, the Editor-in-Chief for Investopedia, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to break down the latest in the Activision Blizzard sexual misconduct scandal. After 1,700 of the embattled video game maker's employees signed a petition demanding CEO Bobby Kotick step down, Kotick reportedly said he would step down if he can't turn the toxic workplace culture around quickly. Silver noted that the allegations go back years with settlements and lawsuits that indicate Kotick would have to be claiming ignorance of his own business or deliberately obfuscating his knowledge of what happened under his watch.
3G Networks Will Shut Down in 2022
In 2022, all 3G networks will shutdown permanently. Sprint will be leading the charge as the first network to go dark on New Year's Day, and the rest will follow shortly thereafter. Ryan Johnston of Next Century Cities joins Cheddar News to discuss the importance of the shutdown, and how users who may be affected can act fast before they're left disconnected.
Load More