Perspectives
GroundGame.Health Announces SameSky Health Merger and $17M Financing Led by 7wireVentures
We are excited to announce that 7wireVentures has led an investment in GroundGame.Health (GGH) as part of the company’s $17M funding round. GGH is a proven social impact and population health platform that connects Community Based Organizations (CBOs) with health plans and providers to address the Social Determinant of Health (SDOH) needs of the most difficult to engage healthcare populations. Prior to this financing, 7wireVentures’ portfolio company, SameSky Health (SSH) merged with GroundGame.Health. The merged entity will accelerate a shared mission to improve health and advance health equity by closing the loop around SDOH needs and care gaps at scale.
Founded in 2022, GGH was developed by Co-Founders Susan Rawlings Molina, CEO, and Sri Akula, President. Susan comes with an extensive track record of strategic and operational excellence that spans over 28 years – 24 of which were focused in leading and scaling Medicare and Medicaid-oriented startups and corporates. The wealth of applicable experience Susan has gained as President and CEO of organizations such as HealthPlan Services, TMG Health, Socios Mayores en Salud, and Florida Healthplan Plus has proven to be integral to GGH’s success. Through these experiences she has demonstrated a unique ability to successfully lead companies through a variety of scenarios, ranging from executing aggressive growth strategies to navigating highly complex legal and regulatory hurdles.
“It’s clear that taking a hyperlocal approach when addressing SDOH needs is extremely effective,” said Susan Molina, Co-Founder and CEO of GroundGame.Health. “At GroundGame.Health we have proven that it’s possible to do this at scale. Integrating the strong work Abner (CEO and founder of SameSky Health) and his team have done at SameSky enables us to supercharge the impact we have on communities nationwide.”
GroundGame.Health has addressed over 180,000 social impact needs to date and has powered the flow of over $26 million from MCOs to CBOs, providing sustainable funding to local organizations best positioned to meet those needs. SameSky Health has engaged over 2.8 million members, and the combined company will continue to deliver outcomes around meeting members’ needs, closing gaps in care, and reducing the cost of care.
“Today, over 50% of Americans experience at least one unmet social need,” said Abner Mason Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer of GroundGame.Health and previously the CEO and Founder of SameSky Health. “Our partnership represents an exciting opportunity to address healthcare accessibility and equity on a monumental scale, helping a greater number of people receive the support they need to thrive.”
“For plans, providers, community-based organizations, and consumers, GroundGame.Health and SameSky Health present an exciting development in the SDOH space,“ said Robert Garber, Partner at 7wireVentures. The combined company will provide the market with a unique last mile SDOH engagement solution powered by a culturally competent communication engine that work together to advance health equity.”
GroundGame Health and SameSky Health’s combined leadership team
Why We Invested
Clear Consumer Need
Today, one in five Americans rely on Medicaid coverage to receive healthcare.[1] Despite the meaningful number of individuals enrolled in the benefit, Medicaid beneficiaries experience significantly poorer health outcomes relative to other populations. Notably, these Americans have a 38% higher incidence of mental health issues and an 18% greater chance of developing diabetes compared to individuals with private insurance.[2] Medicaid beneficiaries also exhibit a higher likelihood of having chronic health conditions compared to those with private insurance, with approximately 22% of Medicaid enrollees experiencing two or more chronic conditions.[3]
The high acuity of the population is further compounded, and in many cases directly driven, by the limited number of healthcare providers accepting and willing to treat Medicaid patients. While 96% of physicians in the U.S. accept new private pay patients, only 74% of physicians accept new Medicaid patients – ranging from 46% to 87% depending on the specialty.[4][5] As such, beneficiaries often face long wait times for services and experience frequent changes in who they receive care from, leading to interruptions in health services.[6] Further, the American healthcare system has historically been a challenging environment for consumers to develop and maintain trust. Once trust is lost, 80% of patients choose not to return to a healthcare provider.[7] Medicaid members experience this dynamic in an acute manner, with nearly 40% of Medicaid beneficiaries indicating they have been treated by a provider they do not trust.[8] Ultimately, though the drivers of health outcomes among Medicaid enrollees are multifaceted, difficult access to care and lack of trust in the health system represent major barriers. Consequently, ensuring convenient access to trusted services is particularly critical for the population.
Innovative Platform with Strong Value Proposition
These significant consumer needs present a compelling opportunity for digital health companies to drive change. In particular, the shift to a digitized healthcare experience opens the door for greater access, increased personalization, and more culturally empathetic care experiences.
Through its closed loop, HITRUST-certified platform, and network of local Community Care Workers (CCWs), GGH enables the efficient flow of resources from Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) to CBOs to address unmet social needs on the ground. By incorporating a hyperlocal perspective, the company makes it possible for health plans to reduce the cost of care, enter new markets, and improve members’ health at scale. The company provides health plan customers a fully integrated suite of services, including identification of populations based on social needs, digital integration for referrals and care plans, a robust platform for billing and resource identification, and seamless care coordination, empowering consumers to engage actively with their local communities.
A Purpose Driven Merger
GroundGame.Health has pioneered an innovative model fostering trust among Managed Care Organizations, Community Based Organizations, and members to address social needs. The company delivers essential “last mile” services, spanning from medical appointment scheduling to addressing health-related social needs and enhancing health literacy.
SameSky Health’s culturally tailored approach focuses on personalizing member experiences to bolster care accessibility. SSH has developed a sophisticated and robust technology stack that enables trusted relationships with members. SSH’s discovery screener is an effective tool for filling in member data gaps, while at the same time bringing social determinants and behavioral health insights to light, providing an opportunity to direct members to available resources. Further, the company’s interactive voice response modality applies Conversational AI to increase the intelligence and personalization of voice phone interactions, enhancing the member experience. SSH can deploy a multimodal approach to personalize the member experience and support GGH in enhancing member health engagement.
Ultimately, the expertise, commercial relationships, and proprietary culturally tailored engagement engine SameSky Health has built, will increase GroundGame.Health’s ability to rapidly scale, improve engagement, and drive outsized impact for its members and partners.
GGH has been presented with a timely opportunity to deliver an integrated solution to address social needs locally. We at 7wireVentures are honored to welcome GroundGame.Health to our portfolio and are thrilled by the opportunity to support the company’s mission to Connect the Unconnected.