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WTF Health: Included Health’s CEO Owen Tripp on Grand Rounds, Doctor-on-Demand Merger & New Name

By JESSICA DaMASSA, WTF Health

A sign of effective ‘merging-and-acquiring’ among innovative healthcare companies? How about a new brand-name? The company known as “Grand Rounds Health and Doctor on Demand,” which merged in March 2021 and quickly acquired LGBTQ+ virtual care company, Included Health, announced that the company would be moving forward as Included Health from here on out. We get into the strategy behind that name-change – and, more importantly, how the integration of the three companies is going – from CEO Owen Tripp.

This quick update covers how the navigation-plus-virtual-care co is prioritizing integration at-scale for millions of members – unlike other growing healthcare companies who Owen says have, “acquired companies, but haven’t put them together.” From member experience, clinician experience, and the business model backing all of this, we get a state-of-play on Included Health, including Owen’s take on the rising popularity of at-risk models among competitors Accolade Health and Transcarent, the legacy relationship the company has with Walmart, and how small/mid-sized employers are increasing area of focus for growth.

Reflections on HLTH2021: The Lens of the Patient and Carepartner

By GRACE CORDOVANO

Attending HLTH 2021 in-person in Boston solidified that there is no comparison between attending live vs. virtual conferences.  While content and presentations can be solid both virtually or in-person, it is the energy of the connections that are made between scheduled presentations and the conversations that are shared throughout that move the needle. Kudos to the organizers of HLTH 2021 for prioritizing the safety of all in-person attendees with COVID-19 vaccination requirements, proof of negative PCR testing within 3 days of arrival, and mask requirements on-site.

After reflecting on all the proceedings, the conversations, and the experiences at HLTH 2021, here are eight reflections on the event from the patient and carepartner perspective.

1) Patients and Carepartners (Not) Included

These words were the taglines of HLTH2021:

Dear Future: We’re coming for you. #HLTH2021

The largest and most important conference for health care innovation

A battle cry for improving health care, but I can’t help but wonder, who’s “we’re”?

The agenda and stages at HLTH2021 were filled with some of the biggest, most respected names in the health care ecosystem. Unfortunately, no patients were speaking from these stages. A search of the agenda and speaker list for “patient” showed entries for “patient experience” or “patient” in the form of an executive title. Many panels and discussions fell short of the real-world experiences of living life with a diagnosis or multiple comorbidities, the difficulties of barriers to healthier living that are caused by social determinants of health (SDoH), and disgraceful realities of the inefficiencies of workflows patients and their families face. There were no patient or carepartner champions sharing the positive impact that a company’s brand has had on their or their loved ones’ lives.

Continue reading…

THCB Gang Episode 70, Oct 28 1pm PT – 4pm ET

Joining Matthew Holt (@boltyboy) on THCBGang Thursday were policy consultant/author Rosemarie Day (@Rosemarie_Day1); Queen of all employer benefits related issues Jennifer Benz (@Jenbenz); ; fierce patient activist Casey Quinlan (@MightyCasey); and Suntra Modern Recovery CEO JL Neptune (@JeanLucNeptune).

With bills in Congress and billions in VC floating around health care, there was plenty of fodder for discussion. We also got into a robust discussion about Medicare Advantage versus traditional FFS. But just so happened that with Casey Quinlan H.U.M.A.N., Jennifer Benz, Jean-Luc Neptune, MD MBA & Rosemarie Day we had four people who are either cancer survivors or care givers for cancer patients or both. If you are Adam Pellegrini, Gena Cook, Liz Horgan, Maya Said or anyone else who cares about helping people with cancer navigate the system the last 10 minutes of this are market research gold for you

You can see the video below and the audio will be on our podcast channel (Apple/Spotify) from Friday — Matthew Holt

WTF Health: Inside the One Drop – Bayer Collaboration: New Cardiovascular Disease Product Is Just the Beginning

By JESSICA DaMASSA, WTF Health

Bayer’s $98M co-development-plus-investment in One Drop from August 2020 has yielded its first new product: a highly-personalized, AI-powered digital program aimed at preventing cardiovascular disease. While the solution itself is impressive in terms of its predictive analytics and integration into One Drop’s chronic condition precision health platform, what’s really remarkable about this milestone is that it demonstrates what’s possible when a pharma co and health tech startup are truly aligned as businesses, from R&D to go-to-market.

Bayer Pharmaceuticals’ CIO and Head of Digital & Commercial Innovation Jeanne Kehren and One Drop’s CEO Jeff Dachis take us inside their collaboration, with a very candid conversation about how their two orgs have not only developed a new product here today but how they’ve established a solid foundation for a working relationship that’s poised to revolutionize chronic care and define a new market around precision health.

We talk strategy: for Bayer-One Drop… for what the “digital disruption” will bring to pharma… and for “putting a lab on everybody’s arm” via One Drop’s sensor that’s under development. This chat reveals how the thinking behind incumbent-disruptor partnerships has truly evolved, and what it will mean for bringing digital technologies into healthcare in a big and meaningful way. For me, hearing Jeanne say, “it all starts with pharma being ‘self-aware’” and that they need to “we stop slicing things into therapeutic areas and consider the individual” AND recognize that “not everything is going to be process-oriented and shaped like we do for drugs” is a sea-change from what we were hearing only a few years ago from pharma execs about partnering with health tech companies. Things are changing! Tune in to hear so much more.

WTF Health: Inside Scoop – Medicaid Mental Health Startup Brave Health Lands $10M

By JESSICA DaMASSA, WTF HEALTH

Healthcare startups serving the Medicaid population are FINALLY catching the attention of investors and, this time, it’s for improving access to mental health services. Brave Health’s CEO Anna Lindow and I catch up in-person at HLTH 2021 – under super-secret embargo – to talk about Brave’s $10M Series B funding which was just announced today.

We get into Brave Health’s virtual-first approach to therapy, psychiatry, and outpatient addiction services, its tech underpinnings (which Anna hopes makes her services feel like “magic” to patients and providers alike), and the best-and-most-challenging parts about working with Medicaid plans.

This funding round, which takes Brave Health’s total funding to over $20M, should help with surmounting one of Anna’s biggest challenges: the extra effort required to expand to new states and the new set of Medicaid requirements and regulations that meet her every time she crosses state lines. Still, Brave Health has already expanded into 10 states in two years and, when utilized by Medicaid case managers, providers, and plans, is making a real impact on outcomes and cost of care. We dive into the details about meeting the mental health needs of a population that has typically been misunderstood and marginalized, and talk more about the nuances of supporting innovation and investment in solutions for people with Medicaid.

THCB Gang Episode 69 – Thurs October 21 — Alex Drane Special!

I am so thrilled that as part of my East coast jaunt I got to do another special #THCBGang. This one is with the amazing Alex Drane, CEO of Archangels. Who among other things has almost singlehandedly changed the conversation about SDOH and lots more in this country. And you know that’s true because Jeff Goldsmith has said as much on #THCB Gang many times.

Listen to Alex’s career trajectory as an entrepreneur; how she discovered and publicized the “Unmentionaables“; the good and the bad of her leaving Eliza, and the incredibly important work she is doing with Archangels. All packed into 45 mins!

This is be available as a video below and a podcast on Apple and Spotify from Friday.

THCB Gang Episode 67 – Thurs October 14

Joining Matthew Holt (@boltyboy) on THCBGang today were THCB regular writer Kim Bellard (@kimbbellard); patient safety expert and all around wit Michael Millenson (@MLMillenson); and privacy expert and entrepreneur Deven McGraw (@HealthPrivacy).

We heard a good bit from Deven about Ciitizen’s acquisition by genomic testing company Invitae, and got into it about the Texas abortion law, Walgreens moving into health care delivery in a big way–and whether the Giants can beat the Dodgers despite spending only 55% of their payroll! At least one of those questions will be answered tonight!

You can see the video below & if you’d rather listen than watch, the audio is preserved as a weekly podcast available on our iTunes & Spotify channels.

THCB Spotlights: Dan Goldsmith and Jennifer Goldsmith, Tendo

Today on THCB Spotlight, Matthew sits down with Tendo’s CEO, Dan Goldsmith, and President, Jennifer Goldsmith. Tendo is in the patient engagement space, and Jennifer tells us about the vision behind the company – to become that trusted connection between patients, clinicians, and caregivers via software that creates a seamless and consumer-driven experience throughout that care journey. They talk to us about the plethora of point solutions for patient engagement, and how the platform approach that Tendo takes is meant to support a patient’s comprehensive needs without placing the full burden on the patients themselves.

THCB Gang Episode 66 – Thurs October 7

Joining Matthew Holt (@boltyboy)on THCBGang were policy consultant/author Rosemarie Day (@Rosemarie_Day1) ; delivery & tech expert Vince Kuraitis (@VinceKuraitis); and Queen of all employer benefits related issues Jennifer Benz (@Jenbenz)

We dive into the latest machinations in Congress, talked a lit about the practicalities and impacts of vaccination mandates, and had a long discussion about the tech platforms being built out of incumbent health systems.

You can see the video below & if you’d rather listen than watch, the audio is preserved as a weekly podcast available on our iTunes & Spotify channels.

State of Connecticut’s New ‘Episodes-of-Care Health Plan’ Could Be Key to Scaling Value-Based Care

By JESSICA DaMASSA, WTF HEALTH

Signify Health (NYSE: SGFY) has called their approach “Value-Based Care 2.0” and, today, they’ve received an important designation from CMS that could set an exciting precedent for scaling up episodes-of-care, value-based models for the under 65 commercial health insurance market. The plan to receive this important approval as an Advanced Alternative Payment Model (AAPM) is the State of Connecticut’s health plan – a massive plan that covers the State’s 220,000 employees and retirees. To talk about what this first-of-its-kind approval signals for the future of value-based payment models are the State of Connecticut’s Comptroller Kevin Lembo and Signify Health’s CEO Kyle Armbrester.

What’s so important here is the combination of episodes-of-care (which is like value-based care-lite) and the under-65 market (which is not as rich with value-based care case studies as the over-65 Medicare market). That a State government with a massive population of covered lives AND a vested interest in helping keep local hospitals and health systems vibrant economic engines in the community is leading the way on this novel payment model design is significant. And, Comptroller Lembo gives us the details about how he’s viewing it as a win-win – after quite a few battles along the way. To win in health innovation, you’ve got to follow the dollar! Tune into this chat to see where it’s headed as episodes-of-care models get a huge boost from CMS.

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