Electronic Health Reporter

par8o is named after the 19th Century Italian economist, Vilfredo Pareto, who first defined the powerful economic concept of “Pareto Optimization” in which a system is able to maximize benefits for each and every participant. When applied to the healthcare industry, Pareto Optimization holds the promise of being able to improve overall access to healthcare while lowering costs.

The par8o Healthcare Operating System allows healthcare organizations to optimize their networks of providers and other resources to deliver quality care by applying Pareto Optimization. This approach, and the technologies par8o has developed to implement it, are well-suited to the complex, multi-constituency nature of healthcare because they achieve continuous efficiency improvements while balancing the needs of all parties.

Simply put, par8o helps organizations match the right patient to the right resource at the right time.

Elevator pitch

Much like iOS or Android operating systems that tie together the user experience on your phone, par8o ties together payers, providers and patients to eliminate interoperability excuses to create a simple user experience.

Product/service description

par8o is a venture-backed, EHR-agnostic platform that creates a common point for coordinating care delivery and plan design, a technology that connects providers, payers, and patients. par8o is a cloud-based healthcare operating system enabling all parties to improve care and optimize towards several clinical and business goals in parallel rather than to the detriment of one another. par8o helps clients succeed by applying Pareto Optimization, a powerful economic principle that succeeds because it is well suited to the complex, multi-constituency nature of healthcare. Simply put, par8o helps organizations match the right patient to the right resource at the right time, ensuring that patients successfully transition to the next step in their care.

Founders’ story

Prior to par8o, Daniel Palestrant, MD, and Adam Sharp, MD, founded SERMO, the largest on-line physician community with more than 343,000 U.S. physicians and a pioneering business model that ultimately counted more than 600 customers, including the largest 25 pharma and bio-pharma companies. When SERMO was acquired by WorldOne in 2012, Daniel and Adam spun off par8o.

It was during their time at SERMO, that Daniel and Adam realized that the current process of patients transitioning from one provider to another, better known as referral management, was very inefficient. This led them to build a platform that optimizes networks of providers to better match supply and demand and improve overall quality and efficiency in the healthcare system.

Palestrant was awarded a $2 million grant from Johnson & Johnson, which turned into the seed money to create the par8o platform. The company’s mission is to match the right patient to the right resource at the right time. The company has been in development mode since then and officially launched at the JP Morgan conference in January 2015 with a press release on its Series A funding round.

Market opportunity

• Patients find themselves in a doctor’s office because of a change of diagnosis or escalation in care
• 14 percent of office providers share information electronically with other providers
• Referral rates in the United States more than doubled from 1999 to 2009, with about 10 percent of outpatient visits resulting in a consultation or visit to another physician.
• One in 10 ambulatory visits result in referrals
• 93 percent growth in ambulatory referrals from 1999 to 2009

How par8o differentiates itself from the competition

• The need to match supply and demand is the single biggest issue in healthcare. par8o applies an economic concept called “Pareto Efficiency” or “Pareto Optimization” to better match supply and demand to increase efficiency and lower costs.
• Simple user experience (actual product is two screens)
• Improves continuity of care by enabling access to care providers
• Ability to present dynamic pricing information. Patient is referred based on plan design, real-time pricing information can be presented to patients

Enables organizations to engage patients by establishing a predictable, measurable and highly visible referral process

 Business model

Current par8o clients include payers and providers that contract directly with par8o.

Current needs

par8o is currently hiring as we continue scaling our platform to meet client demand.

When founded

2011

Number of full-time employees

25

Headquarters

Newton, MA

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