Health IT Startup Silversheet Raises $2.9 Million To Manage Medical Credentials

Silversheet, a medical credentials verification startup, has pulled in $2.9 million in a seed round to launch a platform that aims to save administrators time by digitizing documents and automate the verification of medical records.

There are numerous problems in the health IT space, particularly in medical records and the paperwork involved. What Silversheet attempts to do with medical credentials is only one small part of the bigger paper overload issue.

But hospitals are slow moving and bloated organizations where records get tucked away in a drawer and information can be easily lost or misplaced. Getting these organizations to move into the cloud is no small feat, requiring a platform that is comprehensive, easy to use and complies with patient privacy.

Silversheet believes its main competitor is the fax machine and the filing cabinet for that reason. But there are other technologies that are more comprehensive that could potentially be used to solve the medical credentials and other paperwork issues as well.

Box offers HIPAA-compliant medical data storage in the cloud through its Box for Healthcare program, for instance. TrueVault also works on HIPAA compliance for medical data in the cloud.

Silversheet protects patients and administrators by reducing these administrative errors. Miles Becket, Silversheet co-founder
Silversheet’s medical credentialing service hopes to solve just one small part of the issue by offering a way for doctors and medical facilities a way to digitize credentials and keep them current. However, medical facilities could use Box, TrueVault or another platform to keep medical records up-to-date and more.

Silversheet maintains that its sole focus on medical credentials is valuable and that failing to do so can have disastrous effects on a health facility. Silversheet co-founder Miles Beckett points out the problems facing the medical facility where Joan Rivers recently passed away as an example of just how disastrous. The medical director at Yorkville Endoscopy, the medical facility where Rivers went into cardiac arrest and later died, was terminated and the facility lost its accreditation because the credentialing process used by that facility didn’t keep updated records.

“I don’t think there was negligence or it caused [Joan’s] death. But it happened and, unfortunately, this is not a rare occurrence,” Beckett said.

We should note here that Melissa Rivers is suing Yorkville Endoscopy for “medical mismanagement, incompetence, disrespect and outrageous behavior” for allegedly allowing an unauthorized medical doctor to perform a procedure on the late comedian and for other physicians in the room failing to notice Rivers deteriorating vital signs, according to the suit.

But the argument that medical facilities need a better way to keep credentials up-to-date still holds merit. Paperwork is a problem that slows these facilities down and can make it difficult to spend beneficial time with patients.

Silversheet sees what it is doing as a step toward solving one piece of health IT. “Silversheet protects patients and administrators by reducing these administrative errors,” Beckett said.

Silversheet has already tested the platform in more than 50 medical facilities throughout the United States, according to Beckett. The seed money will be used to build out the platform and get into more facilities.

Upfront Ventures led the round, with participation from Rincon Venture Partners, SV Angel, Slow Ventures, BAM Ventures and Cyan and Scott Banister.