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Circulation is a technology company.
Circulation develops a digital platform that manages and coordinates non-emergency medical transportation for healthcare organizations. The company’s core product offers a customizable portal designed to streamline logistics, integrating with ride services to provide reliable and appropriate transport options for patients attending appointments. This technological approach aims to improve efficiency and enhance patient access to necessary medical care.
Circulation was co-founded by Robin Heffernan and Dr. John Brownstein, emerging around 2016. Their foundational insight stemmed from recognizing the critical need to modernize the outdated traditional healthcare transportation model. They sought to leverage burgeoning on-demand ride-sharing technologies to establish a more reliable and patient-centric system for non-emergency medical transport.
The platform serves healthcare systems and providers, assisting them in effectively managing their patients' transportation needs. Circulation's vision is centered on transforming the connection between patients and care, working to significantly reduce transportation as a barrier to achieving positive health outcomes. The company endeavors to make healthcare more accessible by consistently ensuring patients can reach their medical appointments.
Circulation has raised $11.0M across 1 funding round.
Circulation has raised $11.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Circulation has raised $11.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Circulation's investors include Flare Capital Partners, Flybridge, Boston Children's Hospital, Echo Health Ventures, Humana, Intermountain Ventures, NextGen Venture Partners, James Lindstrom.
Circulation, Inc. is a Boston-based technology company founded in 2016 that builds a HIPAA-compliant digital platform for managing non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) in healthcare. It serves healthcare facilities, payers, case managers, caregivers, and patients across 45 states, solving the critical problem of transportation barriers that cause millions of missed medical appointments annually—estimated at 3.6 million Americans, including nearly one million children. The platform automates ride scheduling, trip assignment, fraud detection, and integration of transport options like outsourced fleets or rideshares (e.g., Uber), improving efficiency, patient satisfaction, reliability, and cost savings while enhancing health outcomes.[1][2][4]
Acquired by LogistiCare (now part of Modivcare) in September 2019, Circulation expanded LogistiCare's capabilities to serve a broader mix of Medicaid/Medicare-focused state agencies, managed care organizations (MCOs), and 3,000+ facilities, contributing to managing over 65 million trips yearly with a 99% complaint-free rate.[1][2]
Circulation was founded in 2016 in Boston, Massachusetts, by co-founders including John Brownstein, Ph.D., a prominent health informatics expert. The idea emerged from recognizing the outdated, fragmented traditional healthcare transportation model, where rides critically bookend patient experiences but often fail due to inefficiency and lack of customization. Early traction came via pilots at major institutions like Boston Children’s Hospital, Mercy Health System in Pennsylvania, and Nemours Children’s Health System in Delaware, with plans for rapid expansion across six more states in 2016. A pivotal moment was its integration with Uber's API, creating a patient-centric portal that customizes rides around healthcare needs.[2][4]
This human-centered approach quickly gained validation from healthcare leaders, such as Mercy Health's CEO praising its seamless system integration for coordinators. The 2019 acquisition by LogistiCare marked a major milestone, merging Circulation's tech with the nation's largest NEMT manager under Providence Service Corporation (Nasdaq: PRSC).[1][2]
Circulation stands out in NEMT through these key strengths:
Circulation rides the digital health logistics wave, addressing NEMT—a $10B+ U.S. market fragmented by outdated models amid rising telehealth, value-based care, and post-pandemic access demands. Timing is ideal as transportation barriers exacerbate no-show rates (up to 25% in some systems), inflating costs and worsening outcomes; regulations like HIPAA and payer shifts to MCOs favor tech-enabled solutions.[1][4]
Market forces like Uber/ride-share APIs, AI-driven scheduling, and healthcare consolidation (e.g., Modivcare's scale) propel it. Circulation influences the ecosystem by setting standards for integrated, patient-first platforms, enabling hospitals to orchestrate rides into care journeys and reducing barriers for vulnerable populations—paving the way for broader health tech adoption.[2][4]
Post-acquisition, Circulation's platform will likely deepen Modivcare integrations, expanding AI fraud detection, predictive analytics, and multimodal transport (e.g., more rideshares, autonomous options). Trends like aging populations, Medicaid redetermination, and personalized medicine will amplify NEMT demand, positioning it for growth in a market projected to exceed $20B by 2030.
Its influence may evolve toward ecosystem orchestration, powering nationwide hubs that blend logistics with outcomes data—ultimately making transportation invisible, so patients focus on care. This transforms Circulation from barrier-breaker to health access enabler, echoing its founding mission.
Circulation has raised $11.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $11.0M Series A in July 2017.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 1, 2017 | $11.0M Series A | Flare Capital Partners, Flybridge, Boston Children's Hospital, Echo Health Ventures, Humana, Intermountain Ventures, NextGen Venture Partners, James Lindstrom |