A groundbreaking artificial intelligence startup is capturing the attention of leading venture capital firms, offering a solution to modernize a surprisingly resilient piece of healthcare technology: the fax machine. Tennr is revolutionizing the way health providers handle manual tasks by leveraging AI to analyze and act upon crucial information contained within faxed documents. The company recently announced a successful $18 million funding round, spearheaded by Andreessen Horowitz and supported by Foundation Capital, Y Combinator, among others. This influx of capital will enable Tennr to expand its team and escalate its operations.
Despite numerous attempts by tech companies and the federal government to transition healthcare providers to paperless systems and electronic records, the fax machine remains a staple in U.S. clinics and hospitals. These institutions rely heavily on fax machines for referrals, as well as sending and receiving patient records, resulting in an abundance of paperwork and manual processing. This not only delays critical patient care but also increases the likelihood of errors.
Trey Holterman, co-founder and CEO of Tennr, explains, “If the referring doctor didn’t send enough information? Send a fax. Missing the insurance card? Send another fax. Need more proof of medical necessity for the specialist to bill? Yet another fax. It’s essentially a network of people communicating through fax.”
Tennr, however, is not looking to eliminate fax machines from healthcare communication. Instead, the New York-based startup aims to enhance the process by utilizing them more efficiently. Tennr’s AI technology is designed to extract vital patient information from faxed documents and facilitate swift scheduling. Moreover, if a fax is found to be incomplete, Tennr’s system can autonomously request the missing details.
The trio behind Tennr, Trey Holterman, Diego Baugh, and Tyler Johnson, all 24, crossed paths while studying machine learning at Stanford University. They are now on a mission to seamlessly integrate their technology with existing fax services, outdated file-storage, and electronic health record systems—some of which date back to the 1990s. Tennr’s innovative AI solutions also aim to reduce instances of insurance denial caused by inadequate or unclear information, marking a significant step forward in the intersection of healthcare and technology.