The Series A financing follows Kit Check’s selection in November 2012 into Rock Health’s fourth class of digital health start-ups. The first hospital to adopt the cloud-based software solution went live in April 2012. Seven hospitals are currently using Kit Check™ with nine more scheduled for implementation within the next month. Since its introduction, more than 400,000 hospital pharmacy medications have been tracked and processed using Kit Check software and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. The solution has already delivered thousands of labor hour savings by automating five million medication expiration checks that were previously done manually during kit replenishment.
“The biggest health care delivery challenges today are increasing efficiency while enhancing patient safety. Directors of Pharmacy and Pharmacy Operations Managers face an uphill battle due to legacy manual processes and declining resources. Tim and I started Kit Check to address the inefficient and error-prone hospital pharmacy kit replenishment process. At Kit Check we apply cloud-based software and RFID technology to quickly and accurately identify and validate medication items in hospital pharmacy kits. The result is 90% faster processing time with fewer errors. This saves time and cost, improves accuracy and allows pharmacists to focus more time on clinical care,” commented Kit Check CEO Kevin MacDonald.
“Kit Check has created substantial momentum in the hospital market based on their clear and valuable solution to a well-defined problem,” stated Vijay Lathi, Managing Director of NLV Partners. “Kit Check’s solution replaces a manual process with technology that efficiently and accurately addresses the full constellation of customer needs, allowing hospitals to shift resources to higher-value activities, while developing deeper insights into their own operations.”
Background on Pharmacy Kits: Found Throughout Hospitals
Pharmacy kits are staged throughout hospitals to provide physicians and nurses with rapid access to critical care medications. Examples include Code Trays and Crash Carts used to treat cardiac arrest and other emergencies, anesthesia kits used in the operating room and Pediatric Intubation kits. Each kit or tray is individually packed with anywhere from 10 to 200 items that care providers may need to address specific or urgent medical situations. The kits are sealed to indicate the contents are correct. After use, the kits must return from a clinical unit to the pharmacy where staff replenishes consumed items.
Background on Pharmacy Kit Processing: Reducing Replenishment Time by 90%
At the pharmacy, technicians check each remaining item to determine which have been used and which are expired or nearing expiration. After the kit is replenished, a registered pharmacist then checks every item to verify that the technician correctly restocked the kit. Following the pharmacist check, the kit is resealed and returned to the clinical care area in the hospital. Kit Check™ automates the pharmacy technician process and indicates in five seconds exactly which items require restocking or removal due to expiration. The Kit Check verification of replenishment accuracy also eliminates the need for a pharmacist to double-check the technician’s work and reduces overall processing time by 90% while increasing kit accuracy.
About New Leaf Venture Partners
New Leaf Venture Partners is a leader in healthcare technology venture investing. Our investment professionals bring a unique blend of technical, clinical, and operational experience to our investments, working closely with our entrepreneurs and management teams to help build successful companies. We invest in both public and private later-stage biopharmaceutical companies, as well as companies focused on information convergence technologies driving higher quality care at lower costs. We also invest in commercial-stage medical device companies.
New Leaf currently manages $1 billion in assets. This includes our newest fund, New Leaf Ventures II, L.P., which closed with commitments of $450 million in October 2007, New Leaf Ventures I, L.P. and the healthcare technology portfolio of the Sprout Group, one of the oldest U.S. venture capital fund groups. For more information please visit www.nlvpartners.com.
About Sands Capital Ventures
Sands Capital Ventures is a venture firm located in Washington, DC that is committed to identifying highly innovative companies and individuals that have the capacity to transform a given industry.
About Easton Capital Investment Group
Easton Capital is a leading Venture Capital Fund with a sector focus in the life sciences. Our professionals have decades of experience in all aspects of the life sciences, providing unique financial, strategic, operational perspectives and resources to entrepreneurs who want to grow their business. Our mission is to invest in those opportunities that offer services or products that can materially improve the healthcare people receive or reduce its cost. In addition, we take an old fashioned view of venture capital. Transactions must be structured to maximize potential returns and minimize risks in all economic environments; that philosophy translates into financing companies that have capital efficient business models. Our approach directly aligns our interests and goals with entrepreneurs and managers of the enterprises we support. Our strength as a venture capital firm derives from a deep well-seasoned team with a breath of diverse experience in science, technology, clinical affairs, investment, operations, and business development. Members of the team have participated in running more than $1 billion in investment funds during their careers and helped launch more than 100 companies.
About LionBird
LionBird is an early-stage fund investing in promising startups that utilize technology to meaningfully improve offline processes in healthcare, commerce, and enterprise. The LionBird management team combines the experience of Fortune 100 senior executives with that of veteran entrepreneurs to provide its portfolio companies with the guidance and support required to scale early-stage startups into leading global corporations. For more information, visit http://www.lionbird.com.
About Kit Check™
Kit Check™ is the leader in automated hospital pharmacy kit processing. Since launching in 2012, Kit Check™ has focused on replacing time consuming and error prone manual processes in the hospital pharmacy with faster and safer automation technologies driven by a scalable cloud software platform. Kit Check™ is headquartered in Washington, DC and services hospitals throughout the United States. For more information please contact Kit Check™ via email at PR@kitcheck.com or call at (786) 548-2432 ext. 5.