You may know a hospital by its general reputation, but is it really the best place to go for the specific type of surgery you need?
A Seattle-based startup called Mpirica Health is answering that question, and the company just landed its first outside investment — $1.6 million from early stage, private investor McQuinn Trust — to continue building its business. Mpirica provides a medical quality score for surgeries at 4,800 U.S. hospitals, using a proprietary method that leverages publicly released data about surgical outcomes and physicians at specific hospitals.
The company likens its approach to a FICO credit score for hospital surgeries, ranging from a low of 100 to a high of 800. Mpirica also shows users the cost of surgeries at various hospitals.
“For the first time you’re really able to see both cost and quality,” said Shakil Haroon, Mpirica founder and CEO, who has worked previously at companies including Microsoft, Intel and Spring Wireless.
The company, which has seven people on its founding team, in addition to contractors and part-time employees, will use the funding to bring more people on board full time, while building awareness and momentum for its service among consumers and employers.
Mpirica is planning to market the service to large, self-insured companies, allowing their employees to choose the highest-quality and most cost-effective hospitals for specific types of surgery.
Mpirica’s Quality Score uses methodology developed and refined by Dr. Michael Pine, a Harvard-trained cardiologist and a founding partner in the company. As part of the plan, employers will be able to offer financial incentives employees who use the service to reduce the employer’s overall health-care costs.