Medicaid covers one in five Americans, and many of those have complex health needs and often struggle to access care. Pair Team, a value-based primary care company, is trying to support this population by partnering with local community-based organizations. It plans to scale its efforts after securing $9 million in Series A funding, it announced last week.
San Francisco-based Pair Team works with Medicaid plans and partners with local health centers and community-based organizations — such as food pantries, shelters and sobering centers — and trains their staff to become community health workers. These workers can then provide care navigation services, health advocacy support and other services. Patients are also connected to Pair Team’s virtual telemedicine care team, which includes a registered nurse, nurse practitioner and behavioral health specialist. As well as addressing clinical and mental health needs, the care team also addresses social needs such as housing, food and transportation.
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Working with community-based organizations is vital for improving access to care and engagement in health services because “they already have the trust of the community,” said Neil Batlivala, CEO of Pair Team, in an interview. “The shelter, the food pantry, they’ve been there for decades in the community. They’re cornerstone organizations for a lot of these communities.”
The $9 million Series A funding round was led by Next Ventures and included participation from PTX Capital, Create Health Ventures, OCA Ventures, CHCF Innovation Fund, Kapor Capital and other investors. In total, Pair Team has raised about $20 million, according to Batlivala.
With the financing, the company plans to expand its reach. It is currently operating in California, as the state has the California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM) initiative, which is focused on leveraging community-based organizations in the care delivery system. Pair Team hopes to expand to more states in the future, Batlivala said. It also aims to grow its network of safety net organizations.
As a value-based organization, the company is focused on driving outcomes in areas like blood pressure control, diabetes control, patient engagement and other areas, according to Batlivala. Some of Pair Team’s Medicaid partners are L.A. Care Health Plan and Health Net.
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Other value-based companies that serve Medicaid patients include Aledade and ApolloMed. But Batlivala said he hopes to see more startups in the Medicaid space. However, there are often challenges in raising funds for Medicaid-focused startups.
“There aren’t enough competitors, in my opinion,” he said.
Ultimately, Pair Team aims to improve care for the patients who have historically been underserved in the healthcare system, Batlivala stated.
“Our urgency is that there are so many people who just have no one to lean on in their counties and in their community,” he said. “We can’t be moving fast enough to get them the support they need.”
Photo: Abscent84, Getty Images
