AI platform reduces referral processing time by 86% at Lifepoint Health and will scale across 62 ScionHealth hospitals by the end of 2026.
Key Highlights
- $20 million Series A led by NEA, with participation from Frist Cressey Ventures and 25m Health
- Platform reduces median processing time 86% (8.5 minutes to 1.2 minutes) at Lifepoint Health, a leading diversified healthcare delivery network
- New capital to fuel product expansion and help scale across 111 markets (62 ScionHealth, 49 Lifepoint Health) by the end of 2026
NASHVILLE, Tenn.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Basalt Health, the AI platform that helps patients transition to post-acute care faster, today announced a $20 million Series A financing led by return investor NEA, with participation from existing investors Frist Cressey Ventures and 25m Health. The round brings the company’s total capital raised to approximately $24.5 million.
Each year, roughly 14 million patients enter post-acute care—yet the placement process has failed to evolve. The archaic process typically involves case managers faxing lengthy clinical packets to 6.6 facilities per placement, then waiting for the right bed to respond. The resulting delays and mismatches contribute to an estimated $17 billion in avoidable readmission costs annually.
“Case managers are still sending 70-page packets and waiting for responses, while patients remain stranded in hospital beds,” said Ben Hackett, Founder and CEO of Basalt Health. “Basalt turns that uncertainty into fast, defensible decisions. This funding gives us the power to transform one of healthcare’s most stubbornly inefficient systems.”
For Hackett, the mission is personal: with a mother and grandmother who were nurses, he understood the demands of the profession early on. After nearly a decade at Accolade, where he saw administrative work increasingly pull clinicians away from patients, he founded Basalt in 2024 to build technology that fits existing workflows, reduces friction and gives care teams more time to focus on patients.
Basalt reads every referral as it arrives, whether by fax, portal, or direct EMR integration, and evaluates it against a facility’s clinical criteria. It then supports the workflows that follow, including admissions, benefits checks, and prior authorizations. Instead of simply moving documents, Basalt helps care teams reach and act on fast, consistent, and defensible placement decisions.
“Basalt is tackling a massive healthcare challenge with a rare combination of clinical impact, operational value, and rapid adoption,” said Blake Wu, Partner at NEA and Basalt Health board member. “The company’s AI-powered platform is becoming essential infrastructure for care teams, and we’re thrilled to continue our partnership with Ben and the Basalt team to transform how patients move into post-acute care.”
Merrill Anovick, General Partner at 25madison and Basalt Health Board Member, said, “Basalt is what we mean when we say AI should disappear into the workflow. Case managers don’t see a chatbot. They see the right bed, faster, with a clear reason behind the decision. Ben and the team have done the hard work of making AI reliable on the documents healthcare actually runs on, and that’s why two major health systems are scaling it network-wide. We’re proud to have been part of the journey from the start.”
Basalt has been live with Lifepoint Health’s team since its seed round in 2025, reducing median chart processing time from 8.5 minutes to 1.2 minutes. Basalt is also being implemented across 49 additional Lifepoint markets by the end of 2026.
“Basalt represents the kind of innovation healthcare needs right now: technology that creates measurable value while fitting naturally into existing clinical and operational workflows,” said Al Smith, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer of Lifepoint Health. “Their platform helps organizations identify opportunities sooner, streamline operations and patient access, and support better outcomes without increasing burden on frontline teams. We’re excited to see the company continue to scale its impact through this next phase of growth.”
The platform is also scaling to 62 ScionHealth hospitals by the end of 2026, where it will manage every incoming referral across a network of more than 6,000 practitioners.
“What started as a new technology platform with an innovation partner, has quickly transformed how our team members’ work every day. Basalt helps our teams work faster, make more informed decisions, and deliver a better experience for our patients and our partners,” said Sarah Stuart, SVP Growth and Transformation at ScionHealth.
Basalt will use the funding to expand its platform from admissions into discharge and payer workflows and grow its sales, marketing, implementation, and engineering teams.
About Basalt Health
Basalt Health is the AI layer for post-acute care admissions. It reads every referral the moment it arrives, by fax, portal, or direct integration, and checks it against clinical and payer rules to reach a fast, defensible placement decision. Basalt is live today at Lifepoint Health and scaling to 62 hospitals with ScionHealth by December 2026. The company is backed by NEA, Frist Cressey Ventures, and 25m Health. Learn more at www.basalt.health.
About NEA
New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA) is a global venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs build transformational businesses across multiple stages, sectors and geographies. Founded in 1977, NEA has more than $38 billion in assets under management as of June 30, 2026, and invests in technology and healthcare companies at all stages in a company’s lifecycle, from seed stage through IPO. The firm’s long track record of investing includes more than 285 portfolio company public listings and more than 515 mergers and acquisitions. For more information, please visit www.nea.com.
About Frist Cressey Ventures
Founded by former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, MD and Bryan Cressey, Frist Cressey Ventures (FCV) is a healthcare venture capital firm with $846M AUM focused on accelerating the growth of high potential healthcare companies through a differentiated healthcare network, hands-on leadership support, and healthcare policy expertise. Our mission is simple: to transform healthcare to improve lives. Our strategic partners, including The Cigna Group, MedStar Health and OhioHealth, provide healthcare to more than 50% of the U.S. population. We invest in early-stage startups that build technology or tech-enabled services to advance quality of care, system integration, patient outcomes, affordability, and access. To learn more about Frist Cressey Ventures, visit our website at www.fcventures.com.
About 25madison
25madison is an AI transformation investment platform that builds, invests in and acquires businesses to modernize legacy industries. Founded in 2018 and backed by Apollo Global Management, the firm operates across three strategies: incubating AI-native companies through its venture studios, investing from Pre-Seed to Series A through 25madison Ventures, and acquiring and transforming lower-middle-market businesses through 25madison Propel. Through 25m Health, its Nashville-based healthtech venture studio, 25madison co-founds and invests in companies across digital health, B2B healthcare IT and tech-enabled care delivery, partnering with health systems from day one to de-risk adoption and accelerate time to market. 25m Health has built and backed more than 20 companies, including Basalt Health, Ladder Health, and Midi. For more information, visit www.25madison.com/health.
Contacts
Media Contact
Rachel Stevens
Marketing Director, Basalt Health
[email protected]
