Blog - WTF Health

“If I continue to hear how difficult it is for hospitals to make money, I would like for them to see what it's like to operate a real business. They are overstaffed…they are overpaying…they are not responsible for quality or outcomes…there are no guarantees on their services…they can block competition from entering their markets…they can buy up market share – that's not a real business.” Well, lesson learned. If you ask Roger Jansen, Michigan State University Health Care's Chief Innovation & Digital Health Officer, how he think things are going in US health systems when it comes to digital transformation and the integration of technology and value-based business models in hospitals, be prepared for a blunt conversation about how US healthcare model is failing and how the lack of incentive for change is keeping us all stuck in the same-old, same-old. From digital health and telehealth to EMR and value-based care business models, we cover a lot of health innovation ground in this chat and get a reality check on whether or not things are really evolving inside health systems – and which stakeholders Roger believes hold the key to driving that change. (Hint: He identifies them as those who are already “footing the bill for the lavish lifestyles that healthcare administrators live that are probably well out-of-balance with the value that they actually bring to their corporations.”) Roger on digital health? There's better adoption and receptivity when it's combined with “a service component that doesn't add additional burden to the clinical component.” On virtual care and telehealth? Down 70% since the pandemic's lockdown days and more of a “behavior change problem” at this point than anything else. When we get to EMRs around the 19-minute mark, things get extra spicy and we take a turn into “all this jibberish about volume versus value” and how value-based care models aren't gaining meaningful traction either. It's a big, bold reality check on the state-of-play of health tech, virtual care, and healthcare payment model innovation in health systems… watch now and let us know what you think! * Jessica DaMassa, the emerging ‘It girl' of health tech interviewing, chats it up with the ‘who's who' of the health tech and healthcare innovation set on 'WTF Health - What's the Future, Health?' Catch 100's of interviews with leading health tech startups and the VC investors, health insurance companies, big pharma co's, and hospital systems helping bring their new ideas into the healthcare establishment. From AI and Big Data to digital health, virtual care, telehealth, digital therapeutics, payment model innovation, and investing, Jessica helps you spot the trends and figure out what's next.

There are surprise profits in an overfunded sector, but then there are funding deals for staffing company Incredible Health ($80m), voice recorder Abridge ($12m), meditation company Interaxxon (Muse Headband) ($9m), medication company Arine ($29) & new virtual care medical group Keycare ($24)

Particle Health's CEO Troy Bannister stops by to not only talk about the API platform company's $25M Series B, but to also explain exactly what's going on in that patient data ‘exchange-standardize-and-aggregate' space that, these days, looks poised to pop as the 21st Century Cures Act Information Blocking Rule stands ready to make hospitals share data like never before. Troy calls Particle a “network of networks” and what that means is that their API pulls patient records from organizations and businesses that are already aggregating them (so aggregating the aggregators) to get all the lab data and medical data a clinician would want to in order to have a more complete picture of their patient. For clients like One Medical or Omada Health, who deliver value-based care and take on risk, having such a robust historic data set on patients – along with a more complete picture of their comorbidities – helps improve decision making and outcomes. So, how is Particle Health working now – and what will change – as the Information Blocking Rule gets implemented? Troy's written about this for Forbes, and explains what has him fired up here too. Turns out their model has room to accommodate a big pivot: giving patients access to their own ‘network of networks' record. Find out what sets Particle off in this new B2B2C direction and how they will be using that Series B funding to build out deeper analytical tools to help everyone make better sense of what the data in all those records can show us. * Jessica DaMassa, the emerging ‘It girl' of health tech interviewing, chats it up with the ‘who's who' of the health tech and healthcare innovation set on 'WTF Health - What's the Future, Health?' Catch 100's of interviews with leading health tech startups and the VC investors, health insurance companies, big pharma co's, and hospital systems helping bring their new ideas into the healthcare establishment. From AI and Big Data to digital health, virtual care, telehealth, digital therapeutics, payment model innovation, and investing, Jessica helps you spot the trends and figure out what's next.

What's the bigger news coming out of Capital Rx: that the next-gen PBM just closed a $106 million dollar Series C? Or, that the health tech startup's business model has expanded significantly over the past 18 months, from PBM-only to PBM-plus-PBA, meaning that instead of just servicing the pharmacy benefits management needs of employer groups directly, that now they're also adding to their business by selling THEIR TECH to other carriers and health systems so they can use it to administrate their benefits plans?? Capital Rx's CEO AJ Loiacono takes those questions in stride, lets us in on which “side” of the business fueled their 200% year-over-year growth in 2021, and gives us the details on that tech that his business developed and why its standout compared to the inefficient infrastructure that currently exists to administrate and process pharmacy claims. The big deal here is that AJ and team are tackling one of the biggest friction points in the cost of pharmacy benefits: the cost to administer a plan. They reduce that cost, and the “net cost” of every drug is reduced. AJ says its in this way that Capital Rx operates at one-seventh the cost of his competitors, the “Big Three PBMs” (CVS's Caremark, Express Scripts, and UnitedHealth's OptumRx) and saves its customers an average 27% on their prescription drug spend. Now that Capital Rx has their slick enterprise software, will the business continue to operate a dual PBM-plus-PBA model, or will they double-down on the PBA side? AJ lets us know what's next and (spoiler alert) it sounds like things might go in a surprising direction. If Capital Rx's software is so effective at doing all the things it takes to manage pharmacy claims -- underwriting sequences, implementation management and onboarding, communication, patient portals, network management, reimbursement networks, eligibility checks, etc. – what stops Capital Rx from processing other kinds of healthcare claims? Is a step into the medical claims processing side of the healthcare world on the roadmap? Tune in and find out! * Jessica DaMassa, the emerging ‘It girl' of health tech interviewing, chats it up with the ‘who's who' of the health tech and healthcare innovation set on 'WTF Health - What's the Future, Health?' Catch 100's of interviews with leading health tech startups and the VC investors, health insurance companies, big pharma co's, and hospital systems helping bring their new ideas into the healthcare establishment. From AI and Big Data to digital health, virtual care, telehealth, digital therapeutics, payment model innovation, and investing, Jessica helps you spot the trends and figure out what's next.

It's a tale of two markets: on one side we have layoffs, sinking stock prices, and all sorts of trouble, but on the other side we've got some good bills passed and some pretty great fundraising! In this episode, Jess and Matthew dive more into the dual nature of the state of health tech. Is it the best of times and the worst of times? We find out, and talk through some recent multimillion-dollar deals: Cera raises $320 million; Birdie raises $30 million; Theator raises $24 million; Tebra raises $72 million; Diagnostic Robotics raises $45 million.

How will the reversal of Roe v. Wade impact virtual care and digital health companies from a health data privacy standpoint, particularly as States crack down on the use of telehealth as a mechanism for obtaining abortions and begin to look at digital health data as potential evidence in criminal cases where abortions are illegal? Health data privacy expert and rightfully-so-self-proclaimed HIPAA Scholar, Deven McGraw, who spent three years as Deputy Director of the Health Information Privacy Office at HHS and currently leads Data Sharing and Stewardship at Invitae, gives us her hot take on what's happened from a health data privacy standpoint and how it will impact health tech businesses and healthcare consumers in the short and long terms. Deven's take: “We've really jumped the shark in terms of what the consequences are of health data falling into the hands of people who intend to use it in order to pursue a criminal case either against a woman (or a man) seeking a service, or the provider that performed the service…” So, what does that mean for those who are dealing with digital health data? What are the limitations as far as what HIPAA can protect for patients and what it can't? What loopholes have Deven worried about the privacy law's ability to stand-up to the challenges now posed by the Dobbs decision? And, what does all this mean for the telehealth-based businesses that are providing services to these patients? We have a sweeping conversation about the shifting health data privacy landscape in the wake of Roe's reversal in this latest episode of our special monthly Virtual Care Regulatory Round-up Series, sponsored by the health tech company powering the virtual care industry, Wheel. * Jessica DaMassa, the emerging ‘It girl' of health tech interviewing, chats it up with the ‘who's who' of the health tech and healthcare innovation set on 'WTF Health - What's the Future, Health?' Catch 100's of interviews with leading health tech startups and the VC investors, health insurance companies, big pharma co's, and hospital systems helping bring their new ideas into the healthcare establishment. From AI and Big Data to digital health, virtual care, telehealth, digital therapeutics, payment model innovation, and investing, Jessica helps you spot the trends and figure out what's next.

Am I having a staring contest with the future of digital health? Who's gonna blink first? How has demand gotten so low? What is going on? Tune in to this episode of Health Tech Deals to hear Jess and Matthew hash things out, and to hear more new deals: Everside Health raises $164 million; Particle Health raises $25 million; Annexus Health raises $33 million; and Homeward raises $50 million.

Just FIVE MONTHS after launch, rural health startup Homeward is proving its potential for growth with MORE funding – today announcing its $50 million Series B (that's $70 million total for the folks keeping score at home) – AND a huge 30,000-patient partnership with Priority Health. Co-founder & CEO Dr. Jennifer Schneider is here to breakdown both bits of news and give us some context about what they indicate about the rural healthcare market. There are a couple surprising facts in this one that add up to why investors like ARCH Venture Partners and Human Capital (co-leads), General Catalyst (which led the Series A), and Lee Shapiro and Glen Tullman (old buddies and former Livongo colleagues who went in on this with personal funds outside of their fund 7wireVentures) were excited to jump into a quick Series B. Surprising Fact 1: 90% of all rural Medicare beneficiaries are covered by just 7 payers, which makes the Priority Health deal a bigger deal than even that massive 30K patient population might indicate. Surprising Fact 2: Homeward's market of rural Americans is actually TWICE as large as the diabetes market that spurred the investment and growth of Livongo. For all the math, the details on how the business actually works five months in, and how Homeward is actually going to market as a ‘healthcare infrastructure' provider rather than just a next-gen medical group, you're going to have to give this one a watch! * Jessica DaMassa, the emerging ‘It girl' of health tech interviewing, chats it up with the ‘who's who' of the health tech and healthcare innovation set on 'WTF Health - What's the Future, Health?' Catch 100's of interviews with leading health tech startups and the VC investors, health insurance companies, big pharma co's, and hospital systems helping bring their new ideas into the healthcare establishment. From AI and Big Data to digital health, virtual care, telehealth, digital therapeutics, payment model innovation, and investing, Jessica helps you spot the trends and figure out what's next.

We've been duped! Everyone said nothing's been going on in digital health, but Amazon bought OneMedical! Keep watching for our thoughts and new deals: Cleery raises $192 million; Health Note raises $17 million; Elation raises $50 million; Caraway raises $10.5 million.

Home-based healthcare is the stuff of tomorrow – literally. Tomorrow Health just closed a $60M Series B to grow their tech infrastructure biz into what CEO Vijay Kedar hopes will ultimately streamline and optimize how home health is ordered, delivered and paid for. This is the software that could be the thing that not only gets patients into home-based set-ups faster (vastly improving upon the up-to-90-minutes it currently takes providers to set-up home care for patients) but also creates a system for all stakeholders to track and monitor patient outcomes with an aim at the much larger, long-term opportunity: to realign incentives on value instead of fee-for-service. Vijay came out of Oscar Health, meaning there is definitely a payer slant to the way this software is designed and deployed. Payers are Tomorrow Health's clients, and it offers them a way to organize (or completely create, in some cases) home care networks out of the hundreds of different small, local market suppliers and providers that get medical equipment, skilled and unskilled services, and other in-home care elements to the doorsteps of the patients who need them. Their software alleviates a payer's pain of scaling this concept in every market while also providing a way to track what's happening with the patient and build a “bridge” back into the health system that's leading the patient care team With so many other players working in the home-health space – everyone from retail players like Walgreens/CareCentrix and Best Buy/Current Health to upstarts like Signify Health, Honor, and more – how will this tech stack approach play out against others that are one-stop-shops with frontline care and coordination layered on top? Will these ultimately be Tomorrow's next clients?? Tune in to find out. * Jessica DaMassa, the emerging ‘It girl' of health tech interviewing, chats it up with the ‘who's who' of the health tech and healthcare innovation set on 'WTF Health - What's the Future, Health?' Catch 100's of interviews with leading health tech startups and the VC investors, health insurance companies, big pharma co's, and hospital systems helping bring their new ideas into the healthcare establishment. From AI and Big Data to digital health, virtual care, telehealth, digital therapeutics, payment model innovation, and investing, Jessica helps you spot the trends and figure out what's next.

There have been a lot of interesting tech developments happening at One Drop recently which go waaaay beyond the typical CGM for managing diabetes. The update now: a pretty big one on that sensor they've been talking about AND results of a study on the blood glucose forecasting feature they launched in 2018 which allows members to “see” how their blood glucose will be trending up to 8 hours in advance. I've got an update from the guy who's building this stuff, One Drop's EVP of Advanced Technologies, Research & Discovery, Dan Goldner. So, One Drop's work developing its predictively capabilities (blood glucose forecasts, blood pressure insights, CGM predictions, etc.) is directly related to their sensor – which is why the study they published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR) on their blood glucose forecasts that indicates better clinical outcomes AND more self-monitoring engagement from members is clutch. Dan puts those study results into context, talks about the 39 billion data points propelling those predictive solutions, and leaves us with a big teaser about the sensor. What's this all about? In case you missed it, you'll want the latest. One Drop has previously announced that it's working on a “minimally invasive continuous health sensor” that will DRASTICALLY improve the insights and flexibility people living with diabetes currently get from blood glucose monitor finger pricks. What's new now? An interesting phrase that might tease at how affordable this solution could be down the line: “daily disposable.” Watch me geek out and do my best to get some answers! * Jessica DaMassa, the emerging ‘It girl' of health tech interviewing, chats it up with the ‘who's who' of the health tech and healthcare innovation set on 'WTF Health - What's the Future, Health?' Catch 100's of interviews with leading health tech startups and the VC investors, health insurance companies, big pharma co's, and hospital systems helping bring their new ideas into the healthcare establishment. From AI and Big Data to digital health, virtual care, telehealth, digital therapeutics, payment model innovation, and investing, Jessica helps you spot the trends and figure out what's next.

In the ‘point solution versus platform' debate, mark another score for integration as Vida Health jumps into the musculoskeletal (MSK) care space. This is a move we've seen before among the digital health chronic condition management set (remember when Omada acquired Physera, Dario Health acquired Upright, and everyone was waiting to see if Livongo would make a play for Sword or Hinge?) so why is Vida just jumping in now? Dr. Patrick Carroll, Vida Health's Chief Medical Officer, lets us in on the strategy behind the startup's move into the MSK space and what it signals about how employers (and their employees) are starting to view digital health and virtual care within the larger scope of available care options out there. As for Vida's MSK program, it's different than what you might expect. According to Pat, the program is strictly focused on lower back pain and helping members quickly find the physical therapy and, if needed, mental health care that can make a real difference to their overall health in a manner of weeks. If something more complex is discovered, Pat says Vida is working with partners – including those digital-first MSK clinics – to refer out. Is this the long-term play or will Vida eventually build out or buy its way further into MSK? We find out what's ahead for the cardiometabolic care company as it launches yet another new offering to improve access to care. * Jessica DaMassa, the emerging ‘It girl' of health tech interviewing, chats it up with the ‘who's who' of the health tech and healthcare innovation set on 'WTF Health - What's the Future, Health?' Catch 100's of interviews with leading health tech startups and the VC investors, health insurance companies, big pharma co's, and hospital systems helping bring their new ideas into the healthcare establishment. From AI and Big Data to digital health, virtual care, telehealth, digital therapeutics, payment model innovation, and investing, Jessica helps you spot the trends and figure out what's next.

Butterfly Network (NYSE: $BFLY) is working to make its pocket-sized, smartphone-directed ultrasound as “ubiquitous as the stethoscope” – hoping to give docs and nurses at the point-of-care the ability to easily perform any type of scan and instantly see the results. Dr. John Martin, Butterfly's Chief Medical Officer, talks us through the technology behind the $2,400 hand-held device and how the company is working with healthcare orgs to integrate ultrasound into their workflows -- completely shifting the paradigm for where-and-when scans are performed and able to be utilized. What does this paradigm shift toward on-demand, point-of-care ultrasound really mean for the practice of medicine? Is this over-medicalization and unnecessary, or the key to higher-quality care? And, what about the risk involved in taking ultrasound out of the specialized-and-certified arena of the radiology department and democratizing it for front-line practitioners? John lets us ask all the tough questions, talks through what's being learned as Butterfly scales-up and builds its body of use cases, and gives us some insight on how the business itself is doing after going public via SPAC last year. Fun fact on the diversity of those use cases: Beyond human healthcare and the very important work of helping improve maternal and fetal health in Africa via a $5 million dollar grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Butterfly is also being rolled-out across 200 Petco care centers to help veterinarians use point-of-care scans to treat our pets. **** Jessica DaMassa, the emerging ‘It girl' of health tech interviewing, chats it up with the ‘who's who' of the health tech and healthcare innovation set on 'WTF Health - What's the Future, Health?' Catch 100's of interviews with leading health tech startups and the VC investors, health insurance companies, big pharma co's, and hospital systems helping bring their new ideas into the healthcare establishment. From AI and Big Data to digital health, virtual care, telehealth, digital therapeutics, payment model innovation, and investing, Jessica helps you spot the trends and figure out what's next.

Jess DaMassa packs in 3 headlines before the intro! There's a SPAC, the Roe abortion decision and more Cerebral drama. We discusses them all and still find 2 minutes to tell all about Picnic Health ($60m), Swing Therapeutics ($10.3m), Socially Determined ($26m), Nomad Health ($105) and Tomorrow Health ($60m)

“Being an unpaid caregiver is the epicenter of Life Sucks Disease,” says Alexandra Drane, Co-Founder & CEO of ARCHANGELS, “but it's also one of the most glorious, one of the most magnificent jobs we'll ever have.” So, what's the trick to managing the “sucky” side of caregiving? Data. Alex's company ARCHANGELS has invented the Caregiver Intensity Index, which she describes as a “two-and-a-half minute Cosmo quiz” that helps caregivers quantify the intensity of their caregiving experience and identify the top two things driving that intensity and the top two things alleviating it. The score coming out of this helps caregivers validate the intensity of their experience, offers a framework for communicating about it, and, as Alex puts it, delivers “data that gives them permission to believe” that the stress they are feeling is real. ARCHANGELS then uses the info to crosswalk caregivers to existing resources that can help them manage those intensity-driving challenges – whether they be related to financial stress, workplace stress, relationship stress or otherwise. Knowing that health plans and employers are starting to “see the light” when it comes to caregiving and its impact on their workforce, Alex and I talk about just how much payers are really willing to contribute to supporting the resources needed to support caregivers and how the data ARCHANGELS is providing is helping demonstrate need and connection to health and well-being. Lots of interesting data points on caregiving in this one – particularly when it comes to mental health and how things have changed through the pandemic. Watch now! * Jessica DaMassa, the emerging ‘It girl' of health tech interviewing, chats it up with the ‘who's who' of the health tech and healthcare innovation set on 'WTF Health - What's the Future, Health?' Catch 100's of interviews with leading health tech startups and the VC investors, health insurance companies, big pharma co's, and hospital systems helping bring their new ideas into the healthcare establishment. From AI and Big Data to digital health, virtual care, telehealth, digital therapeutics, payment model innovation, and investing, Jessica helps you spot the trends and figure out what's next.

Jess and Matthew have been out late playing the odds in Vegas at the AHIP conference. This #healthtechdeals has a special appearance from our friend Lara Dodo at Newtopia, and then there are deals for Proximie ($80m), Abacus Insights ($28m), AI VF ($25m), Florence Health ($27m) and Cara Care ($7m)

What BIG thing is Avaneer Health building with its $50 million SEED round backed by not-just-investors-but-also-partners CVS Health, Aetna, Anthem, Cleveland Clinic, HCSC, PNC Bank, Sentara Healthcare and IBM Watson Health? CEO Stuart Hanson stops by to clear-up the mystery that IS Avaneer Health, and how the massive data exchange platform it's building is meant to connect the data coming out of the biggest payers and biggest providers in healthcare, directly and in real-time. Hang on – is this the blockchain-based data exchange healthcare has been talking about for more than a decade?? It sure is trying to be. And what Stuart says is different about Avaneer's effort is, indeed, the fact that it's backed by some of the biggest brands in the business and that they see the business case in being able to more effectively share their data with one another. As he explains it, “this problem of data interoperability and data fluidity is bigger than any competitive business model that they need to worry about…” Stuart is careful to explain what Avaneer IS and what it IS NOT, and this is critical to the company's growth plans and revenue model. Avaneer is NOT a data intermediary; it's not about aggregating data, normalizing it, de-identifying it, or applying any fancy machine learning algorithms to it to deliver “insights” on it. Avaneer is strictly a platform for secure, compliant data exchange, so, for example, Anthem can connect to Cleveland Clinic in real-time and verify insurance coverage. The revenue model is currently built around access to the network and will one-day-soon also take in fees from ‘Solutions Innovators' (aka data-aggregating, algorithm-loving, insights-dropping health tech companies) that will offer their services as add-on's to Avaneer's customers who are plugged into the network. What's ahead for this stealthy start-up as it scales? Could they REALLY be looking to raise a follow-on seed round?? Find out what kind of investors they're looking for and what's ahead on their product roadmap in this in-depth chat. *** Jessica DaMassa, the emerging ‘It girl' of health tech interviewing, chats it up with the ‘who's who' of the health tech and healthcare innovation set on 'WTF Health - What's the Future, Health?' Catch 100's of interviews with leading health tech startups and the VC investors, health insurance companies, big pharma co's, and hospital systems helping bring their new ideas into the healthcare establishment. From AI and Big Data to digital health, virtual care, telehealth, digital therapeutics, payment model innovation, and investing, Jessica helps you spot the trends and figure out what's next. Subscribe to WTF Health's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/wtfhealth Follow Jess DaMassa on Twitter: https://twitter.com/jessdamassa Visit WTF Health: https://www.wtf.health "WTF Health - What's the Future, Health?" is sponsored in part by OneDrop, Transcarent, Pfizer, Wheel, Vida Health, 120/80 MKTG, Komodo Health, Newtopia, & Bayer G4A. Special thanks to our distribution partner, The Health Care Blog. To learn more about WTF Health or throw some sponsorship dollars at our show yourself, check out www.wtf.health.

It's the scandal inside the scandal, and we've got the scoop! Check out this episode of Health Tech Deals to learn more about Facebook, health data, and American Hospitals. Is someone stealing someone else's activity and not getting rewarded for it? What about HIPPAA violations? All these questions and more are answered, along with some new deals: Sana Health raises $60 million; Seasme raises $27 million; Bardavon Health Innovations buys Peerwell; AIdoc raises $110 million.

Hear the big news? Not only has Oracle bought Cerner, but Larry Ellison says “Interoperability! What interoperability? Oracle has fixed it!” Some new funding deals: CapitalRX raises $106 million; EnsoData raises $20 million; CareAcademy raises $20 million; and Inne raises $10 million; Boulder Care raises $35.7 million. Check out the AHIP Conference 2022 taking place in Las Vegas! We'll be there! Tickets are $100 off with code THCB.

Telehealth addiction treatment clinic Boulder Care just closed a $36 million Series B. I've got Founder And CEO Stephanie Strong here to talk about the virtual care company's medication-assisted approach to opioid and alcohol use disorder treatment, and its growing-bigger-by-the-day presence in the Medicaid market. In fact, more than 95% of Boulder Care's revenue comes in from Managed Medicaid plans, and this focus on making medications like Suboxone accessible to traditionally marginalized patients is not only better for patients (drugs like these can cut all-cause mortality rate by half or more) but also compelling for payers. Stephanie says patients suffering from opioid addiction who go untreated are 550% more expensive to the plan than those who are not, and these types of medications facilitate recovery by making it bearable, blocking withdrawal symptoms. We get into the details behind Boulder Care's approach, which includes a number of wrap-around support services, including those provided by the startup's care delivery team that is set to grow as a result of this Series B funding. And speaking of scaling… Does Stephanie have any concerns about challenges that Boulder Care might face prescribing-and-managing controlled substances as a result of the scrutiny created by Cerebral's bad behavior? Any additional concerns about changes to the clinic's telehealth practices when the Covid19 public health emergency comes to an end? And…what about competition in this space?? Particularly as similar-looking Bicycle Health announced its $50 million Series B just days earlier? A great inside look at how virtual care is changing the specialized mental health care space. *** Jessica DaMassa, the emerging ‘It girl' of health tech interviewing, chats it up with the ‘who's who' of the health tech and healthcare innovation set on 'WTF Health - What's the Future, Health?' Catch 100's of interviews with leading health tech startups and the VC investors, health insurance companies, big pharma co's, and hospital systems helping bring their new ideas into the healthcare establishment. From AI and Big Data to digital health, virtual care, telehealth, digital therapeutics, payment model innovation, and investing, Jessica helps you spot the trends and figure out what's next.

“Healthcare needs to move into 2022 and get away from the one-size-fits-all approach that healthcare takes almost everywhere and, instead, treat people like who they are matters.” That's the challenge coming from SameSky Health's founder and CEO Abner Mason whose business is helping some of healthcare's most notorious “one-size-fits-all-ers” (health plans) improve the way they engage with diverse populations. SameSky has built a proprietary tech platform that creates an ‘n of 1' approach to member engagement that is focused on using data to understand who each individual member is at a “cultural” level which, as Abner defines it, is not just about ethnicity or race, but about ALL the factors that go into how a person makes a decision about whether or not to seek care, where to get that care, and who they ultimately trust to deliver it. You can call it “micro-targeting-at-scale” and Abner compares it to the way Netflix customizes movie recommendations based on what it learns about its users. SameSky is hoping to achieve the same level of consumer-focused customization among Medicaid populations, and is working with some of the biggest names in the biz (UnitedHealthcare, Anthem, Humana and others) to tailor an annual “journey” to each member that helps members build trust with their plan, helps the plan get to know their members, and, in the end, helps both the plan AND the member satisfy mutual needs when it comes to getting things like annual health screenings done. Will we eventually get to a more equitable and personally-tailored healthcare system? Stick around until the last few minutes to hear what Abner finds exciting about some of the new federal regulations that impact health data collection and what he sees as their big-picture impact on the future of health equity. PLUS, a bonus for all those who may have been wondering: What prompted the name change to SameSky Health from ConsejoSano?? Is this REALLY because Matthew Holt could never pronounce it? The shocking backstory is revealed! *** Jessica DaMassa, the emerging ‘It girl' of health tech interviewing, chats it up with the ‘who's who' of the health tech and healthcare innovation set on 'WTF Health - What's the Future, Health?' Catch 100's of interviews with leading health tech startups and the VC investors, health insurance companies, big pharma co's, and hospital systems helping bring their new ideas into the healthcare establishment. From AI and Big Data to digital health, virtual care, telehealth, digital therapeutics, payment model innovation, and investing, Jessica helps you spot the trends and figure out what's next.

What's Lee Shapiro's take on the health tech market's state-of-play? 7wireVenture's Co-Founder and Managing Partner stops by to talk early-stage investment, what's hot and what's not post-pandemic, and how he views the digital health funding frenzy of the past couple years which, one could argue, was kicked into high-gear by portfolio-company-slash-previous-employer Livongo. Lee says there's “enough broken business processes in healthcare to last a lifetime,” which means a lot of opportunity for consumer-minded health tech startups to change things, but does the recent slowdown in venture funding and pummeling of public market health tech stocks indicate that the category is in trouble before it even gets a chance to make a real impact? We get Lee's opinion on whether or not the market is cooling, what he thinks will happen next with valuations, and what he views as the best way to scale a healthcare startup – particularly as we watch Glen Tullman run the ‘Livongo playbook' at new business Transcarent. And, speaking of Glen… did Lee really teach him everything he knows?? We're starting some trouble in this one! *** Jessica DaMassa, the emerging ‘It girl' of health tech interviewing, chats it up with the ‘who's who' of the health tech and healthcare innovation set on 'WTF Health - What's the Future, Health?' Catch 100's of interviews with leading health tech startups and the VC investors, health insurance companies, big pharma co's, and hospital systems helping bring their new ideas into the healthcare establishment. From AI and Big Data to digital health, virtual care, telehealth, digital therapeutics, payment model innovation, and investing, Jessica helps you spot the trends and figure out what's next.

Matthew has been out at the Going Digital Behavioral Health reception meeting all of Jessica's fans, and discovering what they like about the show! Meanwhile a big funding round for Carebridge ($140m), with more $$ for Bicycle Health ($50m probably not to be spent on bikes) and Nava Benefits ($40m). Plus LeanTaas gets bought by private equity group Bain Capital.

The question of the day: does 25 people leaving a several 100-person company REALLY count as a “mass exodus”? In this episode, Jess and Matthew find out! Hey – it's the startup world, things explode all the time. Some new deals: Aledade raises $123 million; Tripp raises $11 million; Socially Determined raises $22.7 million; Digital Diagnostics raises $46.3 million.

Otsuka Pharmaceuticals is expanding its mental health formulary – looking beyond traditional medications to psychedelics, and to the “intersection of technology and psychiatry” with digital therapeutics currently in clinical trials for Major Depressive Disorder. Kabir Nath, Senior Managing Director of Otsuka's Global Pharmaceutical Business, lets us in on the thinking behind these bold moves, why the pharma co is even innovating to expand the spectrum of treatments available for mental illness in the first place, and how soon these new therapies will reach patients. “Follow the science” is a key undercurrent of this conversation, particularly as we talk through Otsuka's investments in psychedelic medicine start-ups Compass Pathways and, more recently, Mindset. Kabir says the body of clinical evidence for these therapies is building and we get his prediction on when they might become more mainstream and readily available. We also get his take on digital therapeutics (DTx) and the work Otsuka is doing with Click Therapeutics in Major Depressive Disorder. Their clinical trial, done in partnership with Verily, is the first-ever fully remote clinical trial conducted in this space, and the hope is that it not only generates evidence to support the emerging DTx category, but that it also sets a precedent for a new, tech-enabled way to run clinical trials. This is just the beginning. There's lots more on the innovations changing pharma and the future of mental health care in this one. Watch now! Jessica DaMassa, the emerging ‘It girl' of health tech interviewing, chats it up with the ‘who's who' of the health tech and healthcare innovation set on 'WTF Health - What's the Future, Health?' Catch 100's of interviews with leading health tech startups and the VC investors, health insurance companies, big pharma co's, and hospital systems helping bring their new ideas into the healthcare establishment. From AI and Big Data to digital health, virtual care, telehealth, digital therapeutics, payment model innovation, and investing, Jessica helps you spot the trends and figure out what's next.

Just as HHS extends the Covid-19 public health emergency waivers until July, we kick-off a brand-new monthly interview series about the state-of-play for all things telehealth and digital care policy and reimbursement. Called the WTF Health Virtual Care Regulatory Round-up, we're partnering with our friends at Wheel to feature health policy experts, lobbyists, health plan folks, and other virtual care experts and insiders who can keep us updated on the changing regulations and what they will mean to those health tech co's whose businesses rely on virtual care. Attorney-to-the-stars-of-telehealth, Nathaniel Lacktman, who chairs the Telemedicine & Digital Health Industry Team at Foley & Lardner and is a Board member of the American Telemedicine Association (ATA), kicks the series off for us with an update on those public health waivers and how he is coaching health tech businesses in preparing for the inevitable transition of care that will come when they come to an end. What will happen to patients who live across state lines from their virtual care providers? What business decisions need to be made to avoid abandoning patients and maintaining continuity of care? Nate's not bullish on a federal national license, but there are some cases where cross-state patient-provider relationships can continue to exist – they just might not work for everyone's business model. And, on the subject of telehealth business models, Nate gives us his take on where he thinks reimbursement will be headed, how policy around virtual prescribing will be impacted post-pandemic (particularly around controlled substances), and whether or not Medicare's originating site requirement will be put back in place. We also get Nate's perspective on which virtual care business models seem to be working best among health tech startups and what legal risk those more ‘reckless' players might be creating for the rest of the field without even realizing it. Great education on virtual care and what's happening in the space RIGHT NOW. Watch! Special thanks to our series sponsor, Wheel – the health tech company powering the virtual care industry. Wheel provides companies with everything they need to launch and scale virtual care services — including the regulatory infrastructure to deliver high quality and compliant care. Learn more at wheel.com. Jessica DaMassa, the emerging ‘It girl' of health tech interviewing, chats it up with the ‘who's who' of the health tech and healthcare innovation set on 'WTF Health - What's the Future, Health?' Catch 100's of interviews with leading health tech startups and the VC investors, health insurance companies, big pharma co's, and hospital systems helping bring their new ideas into the healthcare establishment. From AI and Big Data to digital health, virtual care, telehealth, digital therapeutics, payment model innovation, and investing, Jessica helps you spot the trends and figure out what's next

What are the BIG questions a BIG healthcare company like CVS Health is trying to answer when it comes to virtual care and creating the healthcare business model of the future? I've got Dr. Creagh Milford, CVS Health's Head of Enterprise Virtual Health, who's purview covers both CVS Pharmacy (9,000+ stores including 1,100 Minute Clinics) and Aetna, which provides health insurance to 39 million people. Creagh's big concern right now: how to weave together existing care models with virtual so 1) the consumer has a single front door and 2) the provider workforce – which includes everyone from pharmacists to primary care docs and beyond – is coordinated and working together. As you'll hear, there's a lot of thinking about “pivot points,” or where the patient and provider meet in the virtual-and-in-person ecosystem. The goal is to make those interactions easy and seamless – for both patient and provider alike – and we get into the strategic thinking, clinical operations, and tech underpinnings that are evolving to make those transitions possible. Long-term, Creagh believes that healthcare consumers have “voted with their fingertips” and that virtual care is here to stay, but as part of a hybrid model in which questions about quality and cost are still being worked out. Will incentives ultimately realign to make virtual care more enticing across the healthcare system? What types of technology will be next to augment the hundreds of thousands of virtual visits a year coming out of Minute Clinic, or happening as part of an Aetna plan benefit? Here's how one of the biggest healthcare companies in the country is driving virtual care forward. Watch now! Jessica DaMassa, the emerging ‘It girl' of health tech interviewing, chats it up with the ‘who's who' of the health tech and healthcare innovation set on 'WTF Health - What's the Future, Health?' Catch 100's of interviews with leading health tech startups and the VC investors, health insurance companies, big pharma co's, and hospital systems helping bring their new ideas into the healthcare establishment. From AI and Big Data to digital health, virtual care, telehealth, digital therapeutics, payment model innovation, and investing, Jessica helps you spot the trends and figure out what's next.

The BIG takeaway from ATA's Annual Meeting is best bottom-lined by ATA's big boss, CEO Ann Mond Johnson, in this interview: “From an overall perspective, we just don't want to go over that ‘telehealth cliff.'” ATA, the re-branded American Telemedicine Association, has not only evolved along with virtual care through the pandemic, but has also been critical in redefining telehealth as modality for healthcare and re-framing access to it as a bipartisan issue that everyone in DC can get behind. Ann talks through the high-level changes she's witnessed for telehealth adoption over the past two years and gives us her predictions for what's going to happen next – particularly when it comes to the business of virtual care, consumer demand, and, most importantly, regulations and reimbursement. Lots happening thanks to ATA's new affiliated trade organization, ATA Action, which is lobbying to ensure that the waivers that enabled the acceleration of telehealth during the Covid-19 public health emergency become permanent. The time is NOW for health tech co's to get involved! Tune in to find out how. Jessica DaMassa, the emerging ‘It girl' of health tech interviewing, chats it up with the ‘who's who' of the health tech and healthcare innovation set on 'WTF Health - What's the Future, Health?' Catch 100's of interviews with leading health tech startups and the VC investors, health insurance companies, big pharma co's, and hospital systems helping bring their new ideas into the healthcare establishment. From AI and Big Data to digital health, virtual care, telehealth, digital therapeutics, payment model innovation, and investing, Jessica helps you spot the trends and figure out what's next.

Shots have been fired. Hear the crickets? Maybe it's the chirping from health technology twitter, particularly on the lack of deals? NO! That sound you hear is the stunning silence from our epic burns this episode. Shoutout to our new sponsor AHIP – check out the AHIP Conference 2022 taking place in Las Vegas! Common (the rapper) will be there. Tickets are $100 off with code THCB. Some deals: Hint Health raises $45 million; Moxe Health raises $30 million; uMotif raises $25 million; Fairtility raises $15 million; Circles raises $16 million.

You know what Jess just realized? We haven't heard my opinion on Cerebral! Scandal! Firings! Intrigue! Legal Issues! Risk! Skyrocketing! Dying! Cerebral offers quite some food for thought. Check out the episode for my opinion on this incredibly fast-brewing story as well as more multi-million deals: Homethrive raises $20 million; Greater Good raises $10 million; Parallel Learning raises $20 million; Cayaba Care raises $12 million; Miga Health raises $12 million.

Is Elon Musk going to buy Twitter? Are the telehealth waivers going to be passed forward? Jess and I just waiting waiting waiting. Nothing is happening, so we just reminisce about some stuff over the past days, as well as some of these new deals! Legacy raises $25 million; Ness raises $15 million; NowRX raises $22 million; and Monument acquires Tempest.

What does digital transformation look like at a global healthcare giant like Pfizer? Lidia Fonseca, Pfizer's Chief Digital & Technology Officer, shares her strategy for building the life sciences company's digital data and technology solutions, including her thinking about digital therapeutics, digital diagnostics, and digital biomarkers. As Lidia puts it, this is not about trying to simply implement a “digital strategy,” but is, instead, about building a “business strategy for digital world.” There's probably no better story that illustrates how that “business strategy for a digital world” is playing out than the fascinating example of how Pfizer's Digital team helped accelerate the development of the Covid19 vaccine and oral treatment. Lidia takes us inside and talks through how her team used tech to safely speed-up everything from development timelines to clinical trials and even go-to-market in areas around the globe that were experiencing outbreaks. Beyond the tech team's ability to effectively wield data that changed the game when it came to Covid, Lidia also shares what's next for the pharma co when it comes to digital health and digital medicines. Beyond the pill? Around the pill? Instead of the pill? What's Pfizer's position on digital therapeutics as it continues to work to bring new breakthrough medicines to patients? We get into all the ways digital and technology are manifesting themselves within an organization like Pfizer AND get Lidia's best advice for other healthcare organizations who are redefining their businesses with technology.

Big news coming out of Vida Health today as the chronic condition care startup announces that it will now be able to prescribe meds, med devices, lab tests, and more to its members. This puts Vida Health among the first of the digital health chronic care companies to evolve its offerings beyond apps-and-coaching, leading on this trend to take digital health chronic care into a more full expression of virtual care. Vida Health's Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Patrick Carroll, introduces us to the new offering which he tipped us off about when we met him a few months ago, new to his role at Vida and coming in hot from Hims & Hers where he built similar services as he took that company public as CMO. The new prescribing services will cover both sides of Vida Health's integrated model: mental health and cardiometabolic health, but in different ways. On the mental health side, Pat says members will be able to receive prescription meds for anxiety and depression ONLY at this time; on the cardiometabolic side, members working with Vida Health will NOT be able to get prescription drugs to help with diabetes or heart health, but would instead be able to get continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) prescribed, specialized diets, and labs, like A1C testing, that require a script. Do these prescribing services begin to turn Vida Health into a primary care provider? If not, how do these new prescribing and medication management roles integrate with whatever other primary care offering is in place through a member's plan or employer without adding cost or confusion to the patient experience? We talk through the evolution of both care model and business model as Vida Health adds another layer to its full-stack chronic condition management platform.

With 61% of American adults reporting a negative behavior change – troubled sleep, changes in diet, increased alcohol consumption, more time on screens, etc. – as a result of the pandemic, AND healthcare payers looking at 2022 cost increases in the range of 8-10%, one has to wonder just how bad our collective health has become thanks to the past two years. Jeff Ruby, CEO of tech-enabled habit change provider, Newtopia, shares some startling stats about our population's health, particularly when it comes to those lifestyle-related metabolic disorders that his company is trying to prevent. And, thus, we get into a fiery conversation about condition prevention versus condition management… at-risk payment models versus per-member-per-month models… behavior change versus prescription drugs… and whether or not a biz like Newtopia (running at-risk on goals related to prevention) is better placed or worse off as a result of this population that, though sicker and riskier than before, is showing up in greater numbers to try their program. It's clear where Jeff stands with his genetics-plus-behavioral-psychology-based platform, but questions about how to best handle our population's health as the pandemic wans are still very much up for debate. Even on the public markets – Newtopia was one of the first digital health companies to go public during the pandemic, hitting the Canadian TSX as $NEWUF in March 2020 – investors' sentiment for virtual care just isn't what it used to be. Maybe we can apply some behavior change psychology there too? (wink, wink) Though Jeff talks about “uncertainty about how US healthcare works” in the context of the market, it seems like that “uncertainty” is also pervasive in our approach to spending for chronic care - especially now. Are dollars toward prevention dollars that are better spent? A compelling case is made…

Micky Tripathi the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at HHS says this year will be a “transformative” year for Health IT as the decade-long, $40 billion dollar effort to lay an electronic foundation for healthcare delivery heads to the next level. Why is this year THE YEAR when it comes to the digital exchange of health information? Where is federal health IT strategy headed in order to provide the standards and policies health tech co's need to be able to kick up the pace of innovation? We get into a SWEEPING chat about the technology and business implications of all the work coming out of ONC, including implementation of those new information blocking regulations, goals for API standardization, and TEFCA (Trusted Exchange Framework & Common Agreement). Micky not only gives the background on the regulations and policies, but also provides some analysis on what they actually mean for those health technology companies trying to do business in-and-around a more digital healthcare ecosystem.

Amwell's ($AMWL) President and co-CEO Roy Schoenberg called it early when he predicted pre-Covid that there would be a paradigm shift for telehealth that would take the technology from “healthcare product” to “healthcare infrastructure.” Now he's back as (in my opinion) the best kind of market analyst to give us a new high-level take on where telehealth is headed next, how its customers' demands have changed, and how the public market's understanding of this technology and its utility in healthcare is starting to evolve. The bottom line: Telehealth as infrastructure is just the tip of the iceberg. As Roy puts it, “The organizations that we work with now understand that distributing healthcare over technology is part of their future.” And whether it's payers, health systems, private practices, or even Medicare, the seismic shift Roy sees now is that instead of looking at telehealth as a way to do their old business using new channels, the new channels are being looked at as an opportunity for healthcare organizations to completely remake their old business models. “Technology,” he says, “is being considered a change agent for how healthcare is actually arriving at the hands of its patients.” So much more ground covered in this big telehealth trends conversation – it's the PERFECT watch for the week before the American Telemedicine Association's Annual conference. In addition to an update on the roll-out of Amwell's new platform Converge (2/3 of the way there) and the integration of its latest acquisitions SilverCloud Health and Conversa Health, you're going to want to listen in to our little gossip sess about telehealth policy and reimbursement at 17:45 AND our talk about the health tech investment market of privately and publicly traded companies that starts at the 20-minute mark.

In this episode of #healthTechDeals Jess DaMassa is hoping Matthew Holt disappears, possibly on Elon Musk's rocket to Mars. Matthew just wants him to buy Chelsea FC. And then there's actual funding deals for Osmind ($40m), Turquoise Health ($20), Mahmee ($9) and Simplifed which got $6m despite having Matthew help!

t's Friday 13th, the unluckiest day and many on the stock market were feeling it. But there were some deals. Alan in France raises 183m Euros, HealthMap Solutions gets $25m for kidney care, Icelandic Sidekick Health gets $55m for DTx and Dialogue buys Tictrac for $43m US.

In this episode of #HealthTechDeals, Jess is enjoying Cinqo de Mayo in an Addams Family-themed hotel where she is playing “the mummy” introducing health tech companies coming back from the dead. There's gossip about Amazon's pharmacy operation over supplying insulin, and there's deals for Levels ($38m) in CGM analysis, Waltz Health ($35m) in pharmacy search, Safety Wing ($25m) for health insurance for nomads and Implicity ($23m) doing cardiac implantable monitoring in France.

It's the May the 4th be with you day! In Episode 26 of #HealthTechDeals, Jessica is huddling in Boston after the American Telehealth Association conference, and has Star Wars-related trivia. There's gossip there, there's more gossip about Cerebral and its ADHD med strategy. Meanwhile a lot of copy cats in deals today with Hello Heart ($70m) for hypertension, Concert Health ($40m) for mental health, Vivian Health ($60m) for nurse staffing, Curebase ($40m) for DCTs, Mendel.ai ($40m) for NLP and Blue Spark ($40m) for RPM — all joining very crowded markets.

In this week's episode of Health Tech Deals, everyone cheats on each other: Eugene Borukhovich is the guest host replacing Jess! Eugene is cheating on Jim Joyce, while Matthew cheat on Jess; though Jess has cheated on me with Eugene before! Jess is on a cult retreat in Costa Rica, but Eugene and I have some deals to discuss: Biofourmis raises $300 million; Reify Health raises $220 million; Nex Health raises $125 million; and Amae Health raises “several million.”

Happy 4/20 everybody! Smoking weed live on Health Tech Deals is not to be encouraged, but Jess and Matthew embrace the natural high of discussing the multitude of million-dollar deals in health technology: Carbon Health enters diabetes care; Clipboard Health raises $50 and $30 million; Source Health raises $3 million; and Diligent Robots raises $30 million.

In this episode of Health Tech Deals, Jess thinks the music has stopped as Rock Health reports Q1's funding total being below Q4 2022! No $100m rounds today! But still $37m for Real; $40m for Iris Telehealth; only $16m for 9am Health but lots of Livongo connections; $30m for Eko and $15m for Papa-lookalike Duos

3 big deals for this episode of Health Tech Deals! Tiger, General Catalyst, and e-Patient Dave are back! Check out this episode to hear my thoughts on them and on new deals in health tech: Viz.ai raises $100 million, PocketHealth raises $16 million, Eleanor Health raises $50 million, Recora raises $20 million, and Vytalize Health raises $50 million.

Well at least my hair is under control today. What's not under control is the chatter about Olive from Erin Brodwin at Axios, even if Matthew don't get Jess' joke about the internet of Health Care. Meanwhile deals in nursing recruitment for IntelyCare ($115m), Avi Medical (50M Euros), Eleos Health ($20m), Evernow ($20m) and $25m for Vivosense–note my total inability to say their investor's name!

What's with my baseball hat? Find out in this episode! Apparently, someone thinks my hair is a bit out of control and needs some trimming. In this episode of Health Tech Deals, Jess and Matthew review Clarify Health raising $150 million; Season raising $34 million; Altoida grabbing $20 million; nirvanaHealth getting $60 million; and Pluto Health raising $9 million

This episode of Health Tech Deals is brought to you from the parking lot of a MacDonald's in New Mexico. Yes, Jess is driving cross country from Florida! She and I hash out some health tech deals that happened this week: Brightline raises $105 million; Brightside raises $50 million; OssoVR raises $66 million; Podimetrics raises $41 million; and AmplifyMD raises $23 million.

Exciting things are a-happening in the Medicaid space! Two new female CEOs are being announced today in City Block Health and in Centene! In this episode of Health Tech Deals, Jess and Matthew discuss new leadership changes in the health tech space, as well as new deals: Huma buys Astra Zeneca Digital; Afterlife raises $22 million; Timedoc Health raises $48.5 million; Avive raises $22 million; Antidote Health raises $22 million.

We've reViVEd from ViVE and the HIMMSanity is over! Jess and Matthew are back to discuss more multimillion-dollar deals: Fresenius/Interwell/Cricket Health is merging to 2.4 billion valuation; Embold Health gets $26 million; Canopy gets $13 million; Vira Health gets $12 million; and Woebot gets $9 million.

May the luck of the Irish be with the health tech sector and may everybody's valuation go back to where it was in the St. Patrick's Day episode of Health Tech Deals! In today's episode, Jess asks Matthew about Doctolib's €500 million raise with a massive €5.8 billion valuation – this is a doctor booking service and more in Europe. We also cover specialty pharma company House Rx's $25 million raise, bringing their total up to $30 million, SmithRx's $27 million raise for its flat-fee PBM, Synapse Medical's $20 million raise doing medication management, and Kintsugi's $20 million raise for its voice biomarker mental health tech.

We made it back from ViVE in one piece! Will Jess DaMassa stab Matthew in the back Brutus-Style? Tune in to find out as we discuss deals: Clarify buys Embedded Healthcare; Wildflower raises $26 million; Vivante Health raises $16 million; Gravie raises $75 million; and Nice Healthcare raises $30 million.