Ryan McQuaid, CEO and co-founder of PlushCare, a digital primary care platform, told me that most people in the U.S., “frankly speaking, get crappy health care.”
McQuaid is hoping to change that. He said his San Francisco health care technology startup focuses on the patient experience — hence the name “Plush” and “Care.” By obsessing over patients and handholding them through their health care journey, McQuaid aims to build a loyal base that could offer a competitive advantage in an increasingly crowded space.
To help get them there, PlushCare raised a $23 million Series B funding round led by Boston-based health care venture and private equity firm Transformation Capital. The funding, which was secured pre-Covid, was announced Wednesday. The Series B puts the total amount raised to $31 million.
PlushCare (think One Medical but 100% digital) aims to spend the new capital on doubling its staff from the current 50 to 100 employees over the next 12 months. Founded in 2015, PlushCare will hire across many roles, including product managers, engineers, data scientists and customer representatives. Its strategy also includes heavy spending on marketing.
Since Covid, the virtual health care space has been booming. San Francisco-based One Medical recently launched an IPO in January and has seen its stock price shoot up more than 50% in the last three months. Other local virtual health care startups like Carbon Health, Vida Health and Omada Health have attracted hefty funding rounds in the last month.
PlushCare’s digital primary care platform costs $14.99 a month and each visit is priced according to a patient's insurance copay and those without insurance pay an initial fee of $99 and then it's $59.99 a visit. The company accepts most major private insurance plans, but doesn’t currently accept Medicare or Medicaid, and it is open to patients in all 50 states.
To ensure patients cultivate relationships with their primary care doctors, the company requires the physicians it contracts with to work 20 to 40 hours a week. The doctors are paid an hourly wage.
“We don’t want them jumping on and off the platform,” McQuaid said.
McQuaid would not give specifics on how many paying patient subscribers the company has, but did say it was more than 100,000. Since Covid, the virtual health plan has seen a 300% increase in patient visits compared to the months prior to shelter-in-place orders.
The way it works is that a patient downloads the app, chooses a primary care doctor based off the patient's preference, such as gender, schooling or other criteria. Then the patient can make an appointment, usually find an availability in a half hour, and will get a FaceTime-like call through the app at the scheduled time. All pricing info is available in real time, McQuaid said, so the patient knows exactly how much it will cost. If there is lab work or imaging needed, PlushCare can refer the patient to one of its partners, holding his or her hand through the entire process.
The membership-based platform is currently direct-to-consumer but McQuaid sees the company expanding to employers, which would sponsor the membership fee as an added benefit for employees.
Bay Area employees
| Rank | Prior Rank | Business name/Prior rank |
|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | Fitbit Inc. |
2 | 1 | Veeva Systems Inc. |
3 | 2 | 23andMe Inc. |
