RedBrick Health raises $15M - San Francisco Business Times:

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The cash-for-equity investment was announcefd in arecent U.S. Securities and Exchange RedBrick said the financing was led by new investor ofMenlo Park, Calif., and also included existinhg investors , and . “RedBrick Health brings a new dimension in accountabilitt tohealth care, which is why we selecte d them as our first new health care investment of the KPCB partner Beth Seidenberg said in a news Barbara Lubash, a managing director at Menlpo Park, Calif.-based Versant, said Redbrick will use the fundd for marketing, sales and development as it grows past the early-adopterr stage. RedBrick from Highland and Versant about ayear ago.
Minneapolis-basede RedBrick was , a pioneer in consumer-directed health coverage that was bought by Minnetonka-based for $300 million in 2004. RedBricmk offers health assessment andscreeningt tools, health coaching programs over the telephone and and other preventative health services. Workersw get financial awards for participatintg and employers are able to reduce healtuinsurance costs. Recent wins for the companyt include with theNortheast U.S. supermarkef operator Hannaford Bros. Co., which is expanding preventative health serviceszfrom 2,400 to 18,000 workers.
More insurersz are offering preventative health programs to the employerd that are their But RedBrick and competitoras suchas Franklin, Tenn.-based might have an advantage because employers might trust an outside company more than an said John Nyman, a professor of health economics at the Universityh of Minnesota. “You sort of have a littlwe bit better feelof what’z going on when you go with an outsidew company,” Nyman said. More companies have adopted preventativw health programs in recent years becausse they see them as a way to save moneuy onhealth costs, while also providingg employee benefits like smoking-cessation programs or nutritiom advice.
Nyman recently published a study about howthe disease-managemen t program that Healthways provides the university produced an averaged $1,375 in savings amont each of the more than 1,00 workers who participated in 2006. “That’s the bet. It’s whether there’w sufficient evidence that there will be a reduction in the healty care costs that will more than offset the costs of theprogram itself.
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