Cogent Nabs $15M to Expand Service
Laguna Hills-based Cogent Healthcare Inc. has raised $15 million in a fifth round of venture capital funding.
Cogent plans to use the money to expand its inpatient physician management services, said Alan Puzarne, Cogent’s chief executive. The company said it also would use the money to increase its sales and marketing efforts.
The privately held company creates and manages doctor networks that serve patients in hospitals. Cogent’s services also include clinical staffing, “best practices” guidelines and communication and data collection systems.
Cogent’s customers include health plans, hospitals and health systems.
Puzarne, who became Cogent’s chief executive in October, said inpatient management programs help provide cost-effective healthcare to uninsured, Medicare and Medicaid patients and boost the continuity of care, “even removing blockages and delays in the emergency rooms,” he said.
Returning investors include: Woodside-based Crosspoint Venture Partners, which has an Irvine office; Menlo Park-based Versant Ventures, which has a Newport Beach office; Palo Alto-based Accel Venture Partners; and San Diego-based Mission Ventures. Hartford-based Conning Capital Partners, a new Cogent investor, also took part.
Cogent has raised $35 million to date, including its latest round of funding.
Cogent has a staff of hospitalists: internal medicine physicians who are on call around the clock.
The concept of using hospitalists began to take root in the late 1990s and has generated a good deal of debate. Advocates argue hospitalists cut medical costs by better coordinating service and discharges, freeing primary care doctors to see more outpatients.
Some primary care physicians contend hospitalists come between them and their patients, reducing the quality of care.
Cogent evolved from a group of 14 primary care doctors in the Los Angeles area. These doctors started providing hospitalist services in 1994 and incorporated two years later. Cogent, formerly known as Hospitalists Inc., received its first round of venture funding in 1997.
Cogent operates in 11 U.S. markets, providing coverage for more than 2 million people. Aetna, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Humana, Kaiser Permanente and United HealthCare are among Cogent’s health plan clients.
The company’s hospital clients include Salt Lake City-based Intermountain Health Care Inc., Baptist Health Systems of Florida and Texas and St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Santa Fe, N.M.
