Open Health IT Company Receives Investment to Drive Interoperability and Disaster Response

"Ai seeks to meet the pressing need for connected care across the country, through complementary advisory, systems integration, and software solutions," said Chris Brandt, Managing Partner of Ai. "We look forward to our partnership with ABS Capital as we work to accelerate interoperability across the country to enable better communication, coordination, and care."

As of January 2018, nearly two thousand healthcare organizations across eleven U.S. states and regions subscribe to Ai's care coordination solutions for the benefit of over twenty-eight million patients. 

"Christopher BrandtWe were impressed by the company's ability to demonstrate strong growth and profitability while developing solutions that have the ability to reshape the healthcare landscape for the better," said Cal Wheaton. "ABS Capital, having invested in the healthcare industry since our inception, recognizes the importance of improving the quality while lowering the cost of care."

Since its founding in 2004, Ai has delivered tremendous value to healthcare organizations while maintaining designation as a "B Corporation," for community benefit, and recognition as a "Top Workplace" in Maryland. In addition to the design and deployment of market-leading software solutions for connected care, this record includes:

• Developing national standards. Ai has served the federal government in the dissemination of interoperability standards and development of corresponding testing tools;
• Enhancing disaster response. Ai has developed the disaster response health information portal called the Patient Unified Lookup System for Emergencies, or PULSE, for the California EMS Authority to support the Office of National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC's) vision.
• Building health information exchange. Ai has facilitated the creation and development of CRISP, Chesapeake Regional Information System for our Patients, which is now among the most successful health information exchange organizations in the country, serving citizens of Maryland, DC, and West Virginia.

In partnership with CRISP, Audacious Inquiry developed its first care coordination software solutions, the Encounter Notification Service® (ENS®) and the Unified Landing Page™ (ULP™). ENS and ULP have seen rapid adoption and broad scaling across the country. David Horrocks, CEO of CRISP said, "Audacious Inquiry has been a tremendously valuable partner to CRISP since our inception. Over the course of our work together, both Ai's technical capability and their advisory services have been instrumental in the rollout of CRISP's tools for clinicians, population health teams, and public health officials. We lean on Ai team members who we know are among the preeminent experts in their field."

Looking forward, Ai is well-positioned to support a broad range of healthcare organizations in taking advantage of fundamental industry trends – including emerging financial incentives for the improved health of populations – with state of the art tools that include real-time alerts, utilization dashboards, and targeted communications to point of care. Ai is also able to support partnerships between healthcare organizations and public health agencies to better understand and address population health – a need increasingly recognized by in the public health community.

The size of the round was undisclosed. Cal Wheaton, a General Partner with ABS Capital, will join the Ai Board of Directors. This is the first time the Company has taken outside capital.

About Audacious Inquiry

Audacious Inquiry (Ai) is a health information technology and policy company that delivers bold solutions for connected healthcare. Ai's industry-shaping technology offers efficient and cost-effective solutions for care coordination; their nationally-recognized team-members provide actionable strategic consulting, and their services raise the bar for leveraging health data.

About ABS Capital Partners

For over 27 years, ABS Capital has been investing in later-stage growth companies, helping CEOs capitalize on new opportunities and navigate unforeseen obstacles – while never losing sight of the ultimate goal of achieving lasting excellence. Our partners have decades of experience as C-level executives, investment bankers, and investors in the industries we invest in: business and tech-enabled services and health care. This combination of experience and expertise means we have a laser-focus on the specific needs growth companies face as they look to get to the next level. By helping to transform over 120 companies through their most important stage of development, ABS continues to help unleash the potential for lasting growth. ABS Capital Partners. Here, we grow.

SOURCE Audacious Inquiry