Three health systems invested this week in a New York City-based startup with a mission to transform hospital supply chain operations.
Founded in 2020, Clarium closed a $10.5 million funding round on Tuesday, bringing its total funding to date to $16 million. The round was led by General Catalyst, with participation from three health system venture capital arms: Kaiser Permanente, Yale New Haven Health and the Texas Medical Center.
The company's CEO, Steve Liu, said the startup's technology aims to increase visibility, collaboration and trust within hospital supply chains.
“Healthcare supply chain data is scattered across multiple systems belonging to providers, suppliers and information brokers. This fragmentation makes it difficult for any single party to have a comprehensive view of the entire supply chain,” he asserted.
Clarium's flagship product, Astra OS, collects information from various sources in the healthcare supply chain, including data from hospitals, medical suppliers and information clearinghouses, Liou explained. Astra OS then takes this information and converts it into a common format.
Once the data is in a standardized format, Astra OS uses AI to analyze it, which then categorizes items, identifies patterns and provides insights, Liou added.
“In essence, Astra OS acts as a universal translator and analyzer for healthcare supply chain data, transforming complex and scattered information into clear, actionable insights for users,” he said.
For example, Clarium's system can use data like utilization rates, current stock levels and supplier inventory to identify which outstanding orders are most important, and it can also suggest substitutes and recommend optimal stock levels for each item in different locations, Liu explains.
Keeping physician preference cards up to date is another ongoing challenge for the health system, he noted. Because physicians change practices frequently, preference cards often become out of date. Unnecessary items are opened for procedures and then discarded, creating waste, he noted.
Additionally, due to a lack of data-driven insights, hospitals often struggle to standardize items across physicians performing similar procedures, Liou said. He argued that Clarium can address these issues because of its ability to use data to standardize configuration cards at the procedure level.
“By analyzing doctors' past usage patterns, Astra OS can suggest which items should be included on wish cards for various procedures, reducing waste and ensuring the right supplies are available for each procedure,” Liou declared.
He noted that several health systems, including Yale New Haven Health, Geisinger Health and Boston Children's Hospital, are providing input into Astra OS's capabilities.
Liu said his startup's main competitors include supply chain platform Surgence, various supply chain solutions developed by various consulting firms, and home-grown tools created by health systems. He also pointed to PrefConnect and PrefTech as possible competitors in the preferred card management space.
Liu argued that Clarium sets itself apart from competitors through the size and reach of its network.
“We have built a significantly larger data network than our competitors, and this broad reach allows us to collect more data signals and generate more comprehensive insights,” he said. “Our large network creates a powerful network effect: as more healthcare providers join our platform, the quality and breadth of our data and insights improves, benefiting all users.”
He also highlighted the comprehensiveness of Clarium's platform as another differentiator: While many companies focus on one aspect of operations, Astra OS addresses multiple challenges, from supply chain disruptions to managing preferred cards, he said.
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