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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.

#Healthin2Point00, Episode 234 | An M&A and shedloads more money!

Today on Health in 2 Point 00, the word is SHEDLOAD. On Episode 235, Jess and I talk about the scoop on an M&A and shedloads more money in today’s health tech funding climate. First up, Lark gets $100 million, bringing its total to $185 million. How much more money can we throw at a chronic condition management platform? Next, Scottish remote patient monitoring company Current Health gets acquired by Best Buy. TrialSpark raises $156 million, working on developing drugs via their clinical trials software, Twin Health raises $140 million to run clinical trials in silico in “digital twins,” and virtual care GI company Oshi Health gets $23 million. —Matthew Holt

Get Ready for Deepfakes

By KIM BELLARD

The Tom Cruise TikTok deepfakes last spring didn’t spur me into writing about deepfakes, not even when Justin Bieber fell so hard for them that he challenged the deepfake to a fight.  When 60 Minutes covered the topic last night though, I figured I’d best get to it before I missed this particular wave.

We’re already living in an era of unprecedented misinformation/disinformation, as we’ve seen repeatedly with COVID-19 (e.g., hydroxychloroquine, ivermectin, anti-vaxxers), but deepfakes should alert us that we haven’t seen anything yet.  

ICYMI, here’s the 60 Minutes story:

The trick behind deepfakes is a type of deep learning called “generative adversarial network” (GAN), which basically means neural networks compete on which can generate the most realistic media (e.g., audio or video).  They can be trying to replicate a real person, or creating entirely fictitious people.  The more they iterate, the most realistic the output gets.  

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#Healthin2Point00, Episode 233 | Another $2B in deals, including Devoted’s whopping valuation

Today on Health in 2 Point 00, we’re thinking about changing our name to Health in 2 Billion 00. Devoted Health confirmed its $11 billion valuation, bumping it to $12 billion after you count the additional $1.2 billion coming in. Now onto the other 2 billion in deals, BetterUp raises $300 million in a Series C, bringing their total to $569.8 million for performance coaching and resilience training. Honor is growing fast – it raises $370 million ($300M of that is debt), bringing their total to $625M. Elemy, formerly called Sprout, raises $219 million, for children’s behavioral health. Finally, MindMaze raises $125 million, bringing their total to $235 million, working on gamifying digital neurotherapeutics. —Matthew Holt

Medicine is a Moving Missile, Aiming for a Dangerous, Elusive Target

By HANS DUVEFELT

(Desperate times called for desperate measures.)

In the tech world, we have come to expect our devices to become outdated and obsolete very quickly. The biggest tech companies in the world didn’t even exist a few years ago. Bitcoin, a virtual currency which at least I can’t wrap my head around, seems to be more attractive than gold.

I get the sense most people embrace or at least accept the speed of change in tech.

But medical advances that occur rapidly are frightening to many people. Vaccine hesitancy, for example, involves concerns and characterizations like “unproven” and “guinea pigs”.

But can we as a society strive for and reward rapid progress in one area and reject it in another, especially if we feel threatened by outside forces or phenomena – be that a virus, climate change or the collapse of our economy’s infrastructure like supply chains and raw materials.

Tech has its own momentum, more driven by profit motives than altruistism or a desire just to make peoples lives better. Medicine clearly has profit as a driving force, but also a goal of improving life for people. Curing or mitigating disease must rank higher than making life more convenient.

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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.

#Healthin2Point00, Episode 232 | Cue Health goes public + funding for Stellar, eVisit, & Neuroglee

Today on Health in 2 Point 00, Jess and I are at UCSF – we’ll be providing color commentary for the UCSF Health Awards, so tune in tonight for that. On Episode 232, Jess asks me about more deals including Stellar Health raising $60 million, Cue Health going public (and stealing the HLTH ticket), and eVisit raising $45 million for its telehealth solution. Finally, Neuroglee raises $10 million in an Alzheimer’s play. —Matthew Holt

The Vaccine Brawl – A Legal Battle in Process

By MIKE MAGEE

The power to mandate vaccines was litigated and resolved over a century ago. Justice John Marshall Harlin, a favorite of current Chief Justice Roberts, penned the 7 to 2 majority opinion in 1905’s Jacobson v. Massachusetts. Its impact was epic.

In 1905, Massachusetts was one of 11 states that required compulsory vaccinations. The Rev. Henning Jacobson, a Lutheran minister, challenged the city of Cambridge, MA, which had passed a local law requiring citizens to undergo smallpox vaccination or pay a $5 fine. Jacobson and his son claimed they had previously had bad reactions to the vaccine and refused to pay the fine believing the government was denying them their due process XIV Amendment rights.

In deciding against them, Harlan wrote, “liberty for all could not exist under the operation of a principle which recognizes the right of each individual person to use his own [liberty]…” 

Of course, a state’s right to legislate compulsory public health measures does not require them to do so. In fact, as we have seen in Texas and Florida among others, they may decide to do just the opposite – declare life-saving mandates (for masks or vaccines) to be unlawful. At least 14 states have passed laws barring employer and school vaccine mandates and imposing penalties in Republican-controlled states already.  

So state powers are clearly a double-edged sword when it comes to health care. 

Questions anyone?

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