VANCOUVER, and ROCKVILLE, MD – Telus Ventures, the strategic venture investment arm of Telus, announced Tuesday it is investing in a U.S. global patient engagement software company.
Based in Rockville, Maryland, Get Real Health specializes in personal health record (PHR) technology, powered by their award-winning software platform InstantPHR.
The funding (the amount of which was not disclosed) will be used to accelerate Get Real Health’s development and functionality of the software, build its customer support capability, and expand its marketing and sales efforts.
Telus Health and Get Real Health have also collaborated on other projects, including the Mental Health Engagement Network (MHEN) research pilot project, led by Lawson Health Research Institute, which assesses the effectiveness of the app called the Lawson SMART record (Supportive Mental Assessment Rehabilitation and Treatment). The Lawson SMART record is an innovative online tool that gives Canadians with mental illnesses an intuitive and secure way to manage their personal health information.
Since January 2011, Telus Health has been the exclusive InstantPHR partner for Canada. Get Real Health’s InstantPHR software is the technology platform that drives Telus’ PHR solutions giving patients a way to manage their own health information.
Telus Ventures says the investment is reflection of the potential of the personal health IT market, a rapidly growing industry that’s expected to grow to $250 billion by 2015, according to the World Bank.
Established in 2001, Telus Ventures evaluates companies, markets, management teams and technologies that form its portfolio of company investments. In 2012, four Telus Ventures portfolio companies had successful liquidity events, including Ruckus Wireless, the Wi-Fi technology pioneer, which listed on the NYSE and generated a more than eight-fold return for Telus.
Telus Health has invested more than $1 billion dollars to bring healthcare information technology to market.
