Qliance Raises $4M To Expand New Primary Care Model, Circumvent Health Insurers
Luke Timmerman7/7/09Comments (5)Follow @ldtimmerman
Qliance Medical Management, the Seattle-based company that doesn’t accept health insurance for primary care medical services, has raised $4 million in venture capital to expand its practice in Washington and to other states around the country.
The financing was led by Seattle-based Second Avenue Partners, and also included New Atlantic Ventures and Clear Fir Partners. Qliance, founded in 2006, has now raised a total of $7.5 million since it started.
We first profiled Qliance back in December. The company is pursuing a simple and disruptive idea to the U.S. healthcare system. It runs what it calls a “direct practice” in downtown Seattle, which freezes out health insurers and deals directly with patients. The patient hands over a credit card, and agrees to pay a $39 to $79 monthly membership fee to Qliance for unrestricted use of its primary care medical services. The model allows Qliance to avoid spending excessive time haggling with insurers, and lets the doctors see fewer patients. That frees up the company’s physicians to spend 30 to 60 minutes with each patient instead of less than 15 minutes for their peers who accept insurance, CEO Norm Wu said in our original profile.
“We see the Qliance direct primary care model as an important transformational option to health care reform that is easily scalable for other communities across the U.S.,” said Nick Hanauer, managing partner of Second Avenue Partners, in a statement. “Their innovative health care model reduces costs dramatically for individuals and businesses while delivering exceptional care and access for patients.”
The Qliance model doesn’t cover all the specialized services that some patients … Next Page »
Luke Timmerman is the National Biotech Editor of Xconomy, and the Editor of Xconomy Seattle. E-mail him at ltimmerman@xconomy.com or follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ldtimmerman.
Qliance Raises $4M To Expand New Primary Care Model, Circumvent Health … - Xconomy — Accept Credit Cards For Small Business
7/7/09 12:36 am
[...] more here: Qliance Raises $4M To Expand New Primary Care Model, Circumvent Health … – Xconomy tweetmeme_url = [...]
Healthy guy public health report - Roe fears consequences of government-run health care - Kingsport Times-News | My Health Care Coverage
7/7/09 7:00 am
[...] VC , deals , health care Qliance Raises $4M To Expand New Primary Care Model, Circumvent Health Insurers Luke Timmerman 7/7/09 Qliance Medical Management , the Seattle-based company that doesn’t accept health insurance for primary care medical continue [...]
Making Medical History: Flat-rate Fees without Insurance « Unasked Advice
7/9/09 3:19 pm
[...] Qliance Raises $4M To Expand New Primary Care Model, Circumvent Health Insurers (xconomy.com) [...]
It’s About Health Care, Not Health Insurance » Insurance in USA - Car, Life, Homeowners, Health, Travel - Free Informations
9/28/09 4:55 am
[...] model pay a flat monthly fee (ranging from $49 to $79 at my affiliated practice, Seattle-based Qliance Medical Group) for unlimited access to a primary care physician. This monthly fee covers everything from regular [...]
Can Qliance Revive Primary Health Care? | The SunBreak
11/22/11 6:17 pm
[...] asked Bliss early on if there was an idealism requirement for work at Qliance–at a venture-funded start-up, salaries are often lower than market rate. He shrugged and countered with the lower Qliance [...]