News & Insights

Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures Invests in Certintell Telehealth to Increase the Capacity of Community-Based Health Centers in the U.S.

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In the United States, 60% of people have chronic health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Black, Indigenous and Latino Americans are two times as likely to suffer from these conditions. Many of these diverse groups rely on community-based organizations for their care, including nearly 1,500 Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) serving about 32 million people around the country. However, these health centers also face staffing and capacity issues due to healthcare worker burnout.

Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures (JJIV), an impact fund within the Johnson & Johnson Foundation, recently invested in Certintell Telehealth based on its initial success increasing the capacity of community-based health providers—and to help expand the reach of its work to even more communities of color across the country.

“The struggles of my own family and friends has shown me firsthand how social disparities block people from connecting to high-quality, culturally competent healthcare. So I’ve dedicated my career to breaking those barriers down—by equipping healthcare professionals with the tools they need to get directly to the patients who need them, no matter their zip code, color or socioeconomic status.”
- Benjamin Lefever, Founder and CEO, Certintell Telehealth

Founded in 2014, Certintell aims to solve health center staffing issues through telehealth, partnering with FQHCs to provide virtual care solutions and remote monitoring for patients in communities of color. The company connects with patients based on critical health data and triages care in coordination with their care team through virtual visits, improving both the quantity and quality of touchpoints with the healthcare providers managing their conditions.

“We’ve been following Certintell’s innovation since 2020, when they became a finalist in our accelerator at Village Capital, and we’re thrilled to advance with them to this stage of investment. We look forward to working with the Certintell team to continue improving essential healthcare for communities of color in need.” - Vincent Barragán, Investments Director, Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures