Get Real Health, a US-based software company which specialises in personal health record (PHR) technology, has raised an undisclosed but “significant” amount of investment from Telus Ventures, the venture capital arm of Canada-based telecommunications company Telus.
The funding will allow Get Real Health to accelerate the development of new features and functionality of its software product, InstantPHR, as well as to build its customer support capability, expand marketing and sales efforts, and form new strategic alliances and partnerships.
Mark Heaney, Get Real Health chief executive officer and founding partner, said: “We at Get Real Health are very excited to deepen our excellent relationship with Telus through this investment. Thanks to our longstanding relationship with Telus Health, Telus Ventures had a front-row seat to our rapid growth and our proven track record as a health IT innovator. The personal health market is hot and getting hotter, which makes the timing of this investment a prescient move for Telus and a game-changing opportunity for us at Get Real Health.”
Both Telus and Get Real Health note that the personal health IT industry is expected to grow to $250 billion by 2015, according to the World Bank. Since January 2011, TELUS Health has been the exclusive InstantPHR partner for Canada.
Paul Lepage, president of Telus Health, said: “We share a common vision with Get Real Health to effectively engage patients and motivate them to take a more proactive approach to their health. We are pleased to continue to grow our long-standing relationship with this latest investment.”
Mathew George, Telus Ventures vice-president, said: “We are very pleased to partner with Get Real Health, a pioneer of patient engagement solutions, whose InstantPHR data visualization and care management tools are transforming the way healthcare organizations and practitioners interact with their customers.”
Get Real Health was founded in 2001.