Playback Health Closes on $3.8 Million

Gregory Odland

Playback Health has raised $3.8 million in a round led by Chicago-based A1 Health Ventures, according to a Reg D filing on Friday. The New York startup has raised $12.1 million since its founding in 2018, as it builds specialized communication systems aimed at improving patient care.

The company was co-founded by CEO Gregory Odland, a Merrill Lynch veteran, and Dr. David Langer after the Lenox Hill neurosurgeon came up with the “brilliant idea to use video to bridge the communication gap in patient care,” Odland said in a LinkedIn post.

‘What Did the Doctor Say?’

According to Odland, Playback Health emerged from the simple question: “What did the doctor say?” That simple question underlines not only its importance, but also the fact that medical messages often are less clear than they ought to be. Playback has aimed to fix it.

“Playback digitally connects providers, patients and families to the point of care so everyone can hear first-hand what the doctor said,” said Odland, who spent 16 years at Merrill Lynch overseeing trade and risk management desks. “All the information is there, and you can replay it as many times as you like.”

With a HIPAA-secure patient engagement platform, Playback has integrated an app with varied communication tools and virtual aids to enhance clinician-to-clinician, patient-to-family and family-to-clinician conversations. Earlier this year, it released Playback Note, a powerful tool built on conversational AI and the company’s proprietary large language model. Playback Note transforms providers-patient conversations and medical dictation into EMR-ready medical notes.

On Playback’s platform, clinicians can use video, audio, text and pictures to communicate a patient’s diagnosis and care plan. They can also directly connect with patients for periodic check-ups or a telehealth consultation. In 2023, Playback received a U.S. patent on its software technology to securely share medical information among stakeholders in patient care.