How my daughter’s medical journey sparked the creation
of a platform connecting patients to nurses
By Michael Sheeley, CEO & Co-Founder, Nurse-1-1
I always knew nurses were incredible. It wasn’t until my daughter Lydia was born, however, that I realized just how important they are.
Lydia was born with a congenital heart defect and required heart surgery at just 3 months old. As a father, I was scared, confused, and hurt by this news. The healthcare system can be complicated. I needed some human compassion to get me through.
That’s where my friend Kim comes in. Texting with Kim, a pediatric nurse practitioner, gave us the insight we needed when making decisions about Lydia’s care. Kim’s empathy and charisma kept our family sane. I didn’t know it at the time, but Kim would eventually become my trusted business partner.
As we continued Lydia’s journey, I started thinking: everyone should have access to a trusted nurse like Kim, whenever and wherever they are.
I’m Michael, and I’m the CEO and Co-Founder of Nurse-1-1, the first conversational marketing company for healthcare. Kim Liner, NP, is my Co-Founder and Chief Nurse Practitioner. Our HIPAA-compliant live chat platform connects patients with Nurse-1-1’s nationwide network of over 2,000 NPs, RNs, PAs, and MDs. These medical professionals help patients make the right health decisions with reliable information from credible, trusted nurses. Additionally, our complete customer service platform drives adherence for our partners’ digital health offerings by providing data-driven insights at every step in the patient journey.
In 2021, our platform conducted over 10,000 patient consultations through our partnerships with digital health, at-home testing, and pharma companies. On average, patients were connected with a nurse in fewer than 8 seconds.
We recently announced a $2.3 million seed round. This funding is going to accelerate our go-to-market strategy and enable all digital health companies to pair patients with trusted nurses. Working with our stellar investment partners like Argon Ventures, York IE, and Hyperplane gives us confidence that this platform can grow. As CEO, I couldn’t be more excited to grow our team and continue to strive towards our mission – to make healthcare more compassionate and accessible for all.
Here’s what you need to know:
As healthcare goes digital, we can’t lose patient-nurse relationships.
The digital health and online pharma markets were already growing before COVID accelerated the timeline to hyperspeed. Valued at $145 billion currently, the digital health market is projected to exceed $430 billion by 2028. Additionally, non-adherence to medications cost the healthcare system $300 billion annually. Digital health and online pharma are great, convenient solutions; but they also come with drawbacks.
It’s easy to get the right medical care when you’re face-to-face with a doctor or nurse. At home, however, it’s not so simple. Consider that:
- Only 15-20% of prescriptions are refilled as prescribed
- Between 20-60% of at-home testing kits aren’t returned to labs
Patients need the empathy and expertise of a nurse to help answer their questions about side effects, affordability, how to take their medication, how to use test kits, when to seek further medical treatment, and more. Nurse-1-1 represents a way to marry the benefits of at-home care with the influence of professional opinions.
Our $2.3 million seed round will accelerate the go-to-market efforts of our HIPAA-compliant live chat platform, helping Nurse-1-1 reach all patient touch points within the digital health and pharma markets.
Nurse-1-1 will use the funding to expand our team and marketing efforts, so that we can increase awareness of our offering and deliver on the goals we’ve laid out.
Additionally, we plan to expand our partnerships beyond the publicly traded and nationwide digital health companies that use us today. We envision Nurse-1-1 as a core element to all patient touch points within the digital health and pharma markets.
We’re looking for talented, passionate people to join our team.
We’re hiring!
Maybe you’re passionate about building a world where every human has the right to easily accessible, compassionate healthcare. Perhaps there’s a nurse in your life that’s helped you or your loved ones navigate medical treatment. Or it could be that you’re really talented and just want something new!
No matter your situation, we want to hear from you. Achieving our vision will only be possible with more people like yourself on our side. You can check out open roles at nurse-1-1.com/careers or feel free to reach out to us at careers@nurse-1-1.com.
Everyone deserves a Kim. Nurse-1-1 has already brought thousands of nurses to the front lines of digital healthcare – and we’re just getting started.
See HERE for more information on Nurse-1-1’s $2.3 million seed round.