Today on Health in 2 Point 00, Jess is in Las Vegas while I’m all the way in Tokyo for Health 2.0 Japan. In Episode 102, Proteus Digital (finally) announces that they’re running out of money. Does this put the whole category of digital therapeutics at risk? In other news, Seema Verma’s jewelry was stolen and she wants taxpayers to pay her back! How is she going to survive this? And find out what’s going on in Tokyo at Health 2.0 Japan—a whopping 50 startups pitched in a contest yesterday and we’re really seeing the coming of age for this market. —Matthew Holt
The Lynne Chou O’Keefe Fallacy
By MATTHEW HOLT
Rob Coppedge and Bryony Winn wrote an interesting article in Xconomy yesterday. I told Rob (& the world) on Twitter yesterday that it was good but wrong. Why was it wrong? Well it encompasses something I’m going to call the Lynne Chou O’Keefe Fallacy. And yes, I’ll get to that in a minute. But first. What did Rob and Bryony say?
Having walked the halls and corridors and been deafened by the DJs at HLTH, Rob & Bryony determined why many digital health companies have failed (or will fail) and a few have succeeded. They’ve dubbed the winners “Digital Health Survivors.” And they go on to say that many of the failures have been backed by VCs who don’t know health care while the companies they’ve invested in have “product-market fit problems, sales traction hiccups, or lack of credible proof points.”
What did the ” Survivors” do? They have:
“hired health care experts, partnered effectively, and have even co-developed their models alongside legacy players. Many raised venture capital from strategic corporate investors who have helped them refine their product, accelerate channel access, and get past the risk of “death by pilot.”
Now it won’t totally shock you to discover that Rob heads Echo Health Ventures, the joint VC fund from Cambia Heath Solutions (Blues of Oregon) & BCBS of N. Carolina, and Bryony runs innovation at BCBS of N. Carolina. So they may be a tad biased towards the strategic venture = success model. But they do have a point. Many but not all of their portfolio are selling tools and services to the incumbents in health care, which mostly includes health plans, hospitals and pharma.
And now we get to the Lynne Chou O’Keefe fallacy. (You might argue that fallacy is the wrong term, but bear with me).
Continue reading…THCB Spotlights: Mike McSherry, CEO of Xealth
Today on THCB Spotlights, Matthew talks to Mike McSherry about Xealth—which is an “X” not a “Z” as in, the missing variable in health. How did Mike end up in health care from Swype, the touch screen keyboard that is now ubiquitous on all touch screen phones? Find out how Xealth facilitates adoption of a vast range of digital health services by making it easy for providers to prescribe them as well as track engagement levels. Within the complexity of Epic and other EMR systems, how does Xealth fit in?
THCB Spotlights: Todd Clardy, EVP Marketing at Accolade
Today on THCB Spotlights, Matthew interviews Todd Clardy who is the EVP of Marketing at Accolade. Accolade is a company well-known for being in employee/patient advocacy. They’ve created an advocacy model that focuses on creating an outstanding member experience and supporting patients through their whole journey, whether it’s an acute or chronic condition or helping people maintain their health and wellness. Where do Amazon, Google and Haven fit into this space? Find out how many people have got this and how Accolade will be expanding going forward.
THCB Spotlights: Jeremy Orr, CEO of Medial EarlySign
Today on THCB Spotlights, Matthew speaks with Jeremy Orr, CEO of Medial EarlySign. Medial EarlySign does complex algorithmic detection of elevated risk trajectories for high-burden serious diseases, and the progression towards chronic diseases such as diabetes. Tune in to hear more about this AI/ML company that has been working on their algorithms since before many had even heard about machine learning, what they’ve been doing with Kaiser Permanente and Geisinger, and where they are going next.
Filmed at the HLTH Conference in Las Vegas, October 2019.
THCB Spotlight: Dr. Pascal Zuta, CEO of Gyant
Today on THCB Spotlight, Matthew catches up with Dr. Pascal Zuta, the Co-Founder and CEO of Gyant at HLTH. Gyant is a digital “front door” for hospitals which helps patients find the right care. In their vision, health care software should not smell like a hospital—they’ve worked to infuse their system with fun and empathy, with the goal of building a system that can follow someone all the way along their patient journey in an empathetic way in which AI and humans work together seamlessly.
THCB Spotlight: Two old men reminisce about the glory days!
Today on THCB spotlight I have a bit of fun with Ryan Tarzy. Ryan has been to every Health 2.0 conference in a number of guises and now has a new gig at Prealize. We saw each other at the very glitzy, very full HLTH conference last week, so you might title this, “2 old men reminiscing about the glory days of digital health & Health 2.0” —Matthew Holt
Health in 2 Point 00, Episode 99 | (Reverse) Takeover Edition with Bayer G4A
Today on Health in 2 Point 00… hold on, where’s Jess? On Episode 99, I do a reverse takeover with Priyanka Kashyap and Sophie Park at Bayer’s office in Berlin. Priyanka tells us about what Bayer G4A is doing these days with the 5 startups in their Advance Track: Blackford Analysis in radiology; Carepay and RelianceHMO improving affordability and access for patients in Africa; NeuroTracker, which is in the neuro space but is working with the oncology team at Bayer; and Prevencio, a diagnostic solution in the cardiovascular space. Sophie also gives us a rundown of the 6 startups in the Growth Track at G4A: Wellthy, a digital therapeutics company out of India; Litesprite, for mental health; BioLum, a pulmonology startup working on detecting nitric oxide levels in the blood; Upside Health with its chronic pain management software; and finally Visotec and Okko Health in ophthalmology. —Matthew Holt
Health in 2 Point 00, Episode 98 | Connected Health, Pear Therapeutics & the Sutter Settlement
Today on Health in 2 Point 00, Jess and I are at Connected Health in Boston. On Episode 98, Jess asks me about Sandoz breaking up with Pear Therapeutics; Papa raising $10 million to send college students to keep seniors company (and I’m bitter); and the massive news of the Sutter settlement after they were sued for price fixing and monopoly behavior. Catch us at HLTH in Vegas in a couple of weeks, too. —Matthew Holt
Consumerism, washing machines, big data & health care
By MATTHEW HOLT
Those of you who remember my BestBuy washer & dryer installation saga from a couple of weeks back may want to gird your loins. Because the saga continues. And it has even more relevance for consumerism in health care. So catch up on the prequel and come back.
When you left the story your hero had just arranged for Best Buy to attempt delivery on Tuesday afternoon last week. I was in SF for the “can’t miss” Rock Health Summit. I was waiting at the apartment when I got about 4 calls from the same random number in 3 minutes but when I answered no one was there. I called back, no answer. Then I got a voicemail saying the delivery team was outside. I ran outside! No they weren’t! At that point I gave up and had lunch. But then for now the 5th time I called Best Buy and lined up a new delivery. I stressed about 10 times that the delivery team could NOT leave next time without seeing me. There may have been some shouting…..
Monday was the next available day for delivery and it was day that Best Buy was going to finally get it right. I got an email saying they’d be there at 1.30pm
I was across town in a meeting at 12.30 and noticed 4 missed calls from the same number. Being of a very suspicious nature, I called the number, and yes it’s the delivery team. They were outside the apartment, and they were 60 mins early! Thankfully the delivery crew agreed to wait, and I went over to meet them. So at 6th time of asking, the crew was there, the equipment was there, I was there, and we all went into the apartment.
What could possibly go wrong!?
Continue reading…
