Herndon, VA, Nov. 19, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Center for Innovative Technology (CIT) today announced that CIT GAP Funds has invested in Fairfax, Va.-based Kinometrix, a healthcare analytics company that uses machine learning and wearable balance sensor technology to help hospitals increase patient safety by preventing avoidable patient falls. Kinometrix plans to use the GAP Funds investment to validate components of their algorithm and build a first release of their PatientSteady platform which will lead to the company’s first round of sales.
Each year, one million patients fall in U.S. hospitals, averaging $6,694 in medical costs per fall to the tune of $6 billion annually. Due to regulations created by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), these costs must be absorbed by the hospitals, with no reimbursement from insurance. Current patient fall assessment tools are often inaccurate, as well as cumbersome – nurses perform a subjective survey at the patient’s bedside. Kinometrix is solving this issue by developing a machine learning algorithm that automatically assesses risk from a patient’s electronic health records (EHR), providing alerts to clinicians when a patient has moved into the high-risk category.
“Patient falls in hospitals and skilled nursing facilities continue to be a huge problem, and nearly half of patients that fall were incorrectly assessed as “low” or “no risk.” Current assessment tools are inadequate and too subjective,” said Sam Jazzo, CEO and co-founder of Kinometrix. “We fuse motion sensors and a patient’s medical history with artificial intelligence to accurately determine their fall risk, allowing scant resources to be allocated more effectively, saving both time and money. We are grateful for the support of CIT GAP Funds, and look forward to building out our product and our presence in the over 6,000 hospitals in the U.S.”
Kinometrix’s product is a risk notification system that alerts hospital staff to patients’ fall risk based on machine learning algorithms. These algorithms are drawn from two components: EHR data and wearable balance sensor data. The EHR component is a first-of-its-kind feature that automatically and continually assesses risk, which prevents patients from falling through the cracks and significantly reducing nurse workload. The balance sensor component allows hospital staff to perform a quick balance assessment to augment the fall risk that the EHR component provides.
“Today’s standard fall risk assessment tools do not lead to patient-specific action plans, meaning that nursing staff may not have the most effective preventative plan in place for each patient,” said Thomas Weithman, Managing Director of CIT GAP Funds and Virginia Founders Fund. “Having one-on-one patient assistance in most hospitals is not realistic. CIT recognizes the potential impact of a solution that can establish and monitor a patient’s individual risk factors for falling, and we look forward to following Kinometrix’s growth in helping hospitals increase patient safety.”
About Kinometrix
We believe a hospital’s number one priority is the safety of patients, and that optimal patient care avoids needless and costly challenges. The current fall risk assessment system is flawed, putting patients in danger and costing hospitals billions. And these falls are often avertable. Our goal is to eliminate preventable falls by revolutionizing the way clinicians monitor patient fall risk status. For more information, please visit: https://kinometrix.com/.
About CIT GAP Funds
CIT GAP Funds makes seed-stage equity investments in Virginia-based technology, clean tech and life science companies with a high potential for achieving rapid growth and generating significant economic return for entrepreneurs, co-investors and the Commonwealth of Virginia. CIT GAP Funds’ investments are overseen by the CIT GAP Funds Investment Advisory Board (IAB). This independent, third-party panel consists of leading regional entrepreneurs, angel and strategic investors, and venture capital firms such as New Enterprise Associates, Grotech Ventures, Valhalla Partners, Harbert Venture Partners HIG Ventures, Edison Ventures, In-Q-Tel, Intersouth Partners, SJF Ventures, Carilion Health Systems, Johnson & Johnson, General Electric, and Alpha Natural Resources. For more information, please visit www.citgapfunds.org.
About the Center for Innovative Technology (CIT)
Investing for Commonwealth Growth | CIT concentrates on the early commercialization and seed funding stages of innovation, helping innovators and tech entrepreneurs launch and grow new companies, create high paying jobs and accelerate economic growth throughout the entire state of Virginia. Founded in 1985, CIT accelerates next generation technologies and technology companies through commercialization, capital formation, market development initiatives, and expansion of broadband throughout Virginia. Our programs include | CIT GAP Funds | Commonwealth Research Commercialization Fund (CRCF) | Virginia Founders Fund | Broadband/Rural Broadband | Smart Communities | Cybersecurity | Unmanned Systems | SBIR/STTR Support (Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) & Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs) | University Partnerships | Startup Company Mentoring & Engagement. CIT’s CAGE Code is 1UP71. Contact: 2214 Rock Hill Road #600, Herndon, VA 20170 | 703.689.3000 | www.cit.org
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