The medical community — and hospitals in particular — are often associated with cutting-edge technology. This is generally true when it comes to diagnostic and treatment technologies. But the same cannot be said of communications tools. Due to issues pertaining to reliability and data privacy, nearly 80% of hospitals still have their doctors and nurses use pagers. While these do fit some of the needs of the medical community, pagers limit the kind of communication that can be engaged in compared with more sophisticated options. A smartphone app, for instance, can allow multiple modes of communication between parties. It also offers the ability for doctors to search and make notes in medical records, and more.

In an effort to bridge this gap, the team at Statum Systems developed a platform called StatumHEALTH. The technology works in two different ways. First, there is an app that can be downloaded onto a smartphone or other similar device. Through that app, medical experts can open what the firm calls a Patient Care Session. This can best be imagined as a profile for each individual patient where doctors or nurses can access EHRs (Electronic Health Records).

In addition to providing access to EHRs, the platform also provides cloud connectivity. This enables the collection, analysis, and reporting of data. This data, management hopes, can be used for the purpose of improving productivity. The app will need AI and machine learning tools in order to achieve that goal — which it does not yet have. But it is something Statum Systems wants to build into the system with some fresh capital raised. Collaborative tools, like the ability to set or join specific teams within the hospital, are also built into the platform. The technology provides multiple ways to communicate, such as through direct messaging, group chats, texts, and more.

Another interesting feature of the StatumHEALTH platform is its ability to sync data across a hospital’s network. Statum has created a Bluetooth-connected card to which the app can connect. The card syncs with a doctor’s pager service, which allows the app to update even when it cannot reach WiFi or cellular networks. Management’s goal is to sell this additional technology separate from the rest of the service as an important value-add feature.

Statum Systems plans to begin commercial sales in early 2021. At present, the company boasts eight patents pending with the promise that more are on the way. Also, according to management, the platform is ready for a beta test. Their goal is to conduct at least three separate beta tests before the year is out. Given this early state the business is in, it should come as no surprise to investors that the company has yet to generate any revenue. That said, they did generate a net loss of $22,941 in 2018, followed by an even larger loss of $795,659 in 2019. Its operating cash outflows followed a similar path, surging from $16,505 to $662,960.

In order to generate revenue moving forward, management has come up with some good ideas. Their primary source of revenue is likely to be a $10-to-$20 charge per month for each medical expert on their system. A big source of capital in the company’s early days, though, will be professional service fees paid to it in exchange for the implementation of its system and integration to a hospital’s EHR, telemedicine, and other related systems. This fee will vary based on the size of the institution, but management is expecting for it to range between $10,000 and $100,000 per location. A third source of revenue will be one-time or recurring fees for each user for the pager-compatible cards. No guidance has been given as to what the charge for those will be.

Sometimes it makes sense to rely on third-party estimates to judge a market. In other cases, though, it’s better to just run the numbers based on the industry’s size. This gets investors a glimpse at what kind of upside might exist for shareholders in the long run. Statum Systems falls under this second category because the numbers are easy to understand. Additionally, the market opportunity is so niche in nature that third-party forecasts are difficult to come by.

As an example, consider that there are around 1.022 million doctors in the US. There are a further 2.86 million nurses here as well. Using the $15 midpoint for the company’s monthly subscription, we are looking at an opportunity in the US alone of around $698.76 million. The lower and upper ranges for this, respectively, are $465.84 million and $931.68 million. There are also about 6,146 hospitals in the US. If each one were to adopt the company’s technology, this would create one-time fees of between $61.46 million and $614.60 million.

Globally, the prospects here look better. Across the planet, there are around 12.215 million doctors. There exist another 28 million nurses. Under the same pricing assumptions, this would place the market for Statum Systems at between $4.83 billion and $9.65 billion. This works out to a mid-point of $7.24 billion. In addition, there are roughly 164,500 hospitals across the planet. This would represent another $1.65 billion to $16.45 billion in one-time fees. None of this includes the additional revenue stream associated with the pager-friendly card. But it’s safe to assume it will represent a fairly small portion of the company’s revenue stream in the long run.

Statum Systems has a truly star-studded management team. At the firm’s helm is Fred Lizza, the company’s CEO and a Harvard MBA graduate. Lizza has run six different companies, including one generating over $100 million in annual sales. His latest venture was StrategicClaim, where he served as CEO. Before that, he worked as the CEO of Freestyle Solutions, and prior to that he held the same role at a firm called Optiant. Another key individual is Dr. Ara Nazarian, co-founder of Statum Systems and its CSO. Nazarian is also presently the Vice Chairman of Research for Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He is also the Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at Harvard Medical School. Before that, he was the co-founder of Ortholevo Inc.

A third important member of the Statum Systems team is Stephen Okajima. He currently serves as the company’s CTO. At the same time, he is serving as the CTO of SurgiBox Inc. Before that, he worked as a Biomedical Engineer at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. The last individual being mentioned here that’s on Statum Systems’ team is Dr. Arman Serebrakian. He, too, is one of the firm’s co-founders. At the same time, he is working as a Plastic Surgery Resident Physician at Harvard Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Before that, he was an Olympic Alpine Skier.

After careful consideration, our team has rated Statum Systems as a Neutral Deal. At this time, the firm has a great deal going for it. Its management team is top-notch, and their combined experience alone is compelling. The technology is ready to be tested. If it’s successful and is ultimately adopted, it looks like it could make investors a great deal of money in the long run. After all, it does appear to be vastly superior to the entrenched systems currently in place. This is not to say that there aren’t some concerns though. The biggest one is the rigidity of the medical field. Hospitals are not well known for adopting new systems. Given that Statum’s platform would likely result in a major overhaul to a hospital’s communication system, the company might struggle to find customers. There are also questions of privacy and security that hospitals would likely have. The firm is also pre-revenue with a significant net loss in 2019. These losses are likely to continue near-term, meaning that additional capital raises could be on the table. Investors in this raise could see quick dilution as a result.