A brand new digital well being startup searching for to simplify the surgical referrals course of emerged from stealth on Wednesday. The Chicago-based firm, named Corvus, helps suppliers convert extra referrals into surgical procedures by sooner affected person triage and automatic paperwork.
It was initially funded by Redesign Health, a New York Metropolis-based firm that creates healthcare startups, having spun out greater than 60 startups since being based in 2018. Mayo Clinic can be a strategic investor, in addition to the primary pilot website for the know-how.
The startup goals to interchange legacy referral administration workflows. One of many greatest bottlenecks in healthcare occurs between referral and surgical procedure, identified Ian Strug, the Corvus’ founder and CEO.
“Traditionally, surgical procedure contributes the vast majority of a system’s contribution margin, but lower than half of surgical referrals convert to surgical procedure,” he remarked.
Corvus’ platform automates the handbook duties that hold surgical referrals caught in administrative limbo, comparable to prior authorization coordination, doc retrieval and out-of-pocket price estimation. The startup’s AI engine additionally determines sufferers’ surgical eligibility primarily based on their and procedural protocols, Strug defined.
He stated the startup’s identify was chosen with function. Corvus is Latin for “raven,” in addition to a constellation within the southern sky.
“In Roman mythology, Apollo punished a raven with this constellation for being too sluggish to fetch water. In our world, we search to fetch, summarize, consider and current info for our finish customers as shortly as attainable, in essentially the most elegant attainable approach,” Strug acknowledged.
He stated Corvus’ first goal prospects are built-in supply networks and educational medical facilities, intently adopted by ambulatory surgical facilities and surgeons in personal apply.
When vying for contracts with these potential prospects, Corvus will face competitors from care coordination firms like Kyruus and Cohere Health, in addition to from firms targeted on working room optimization, comparable to LeanTaas and Qventus, he famous.
“General, our differentiating components embrace an strategy first primarily based on scientific depth and excessive give attention to a singular subject, which holds outsized operational and affected person outcomes, and monetary ROI, for the system immediately. Moreover, the pedigree of our collaboration with Mayo Clinic gives us with distinctive entry to worldwide scale and knowledge not often seen at this stage of firm growth,” Strug declared.
He stated he’s excited for Corvus’ preliminary pilot at Mayo Clinic to get began, as it would assist inform the corporate tips on how to retool its know-how and refine its choices. The well being system will go stay with the platform in 4 completely different high-volume specialties: orthopedics, backbone, bariatrics and common surgical procedure.
If its early pilots show profitable, Corvus may assist redefine how hospitals handle certainly one of their most worthwhile and sophisticated scientific workflows.
Photograph: German Adrasti, Getty Pictures

