Readers invited: 7th Annual mHealth App Developer Economics Survey

April 13, 2017 | by

[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/mHealth-Economcis-2017-Banner-1.png” thumb_width=”175″ /]Research2Guidance is once again inviting TTA Readers to participate in R2G’s annual mHealth App Developer Economics Survey–their largest to-date study on the current status and future trends in digital health.

What’s the question?: The competition in the digital health market is heating up. 2016 saw the highest numbers of new entries into the mHealth app market since 2013. Yet consumer demand is not growing at the same speed; note the download growth curve! What are the business strategies in digital health that will be successful in 2017 and beyond?

In return for participating in the survey, you will not only have your say, but also more:
— See how your digital health project performs against market average
— Enter into the R2G prize draw to win an Apple Watch 2
— Receive the R2G report at no charge, which will cover digital health solution downloads, revenues and budgets, distribution channels, connectivity, country preference and much more.

The special link to the survey is here. Average time is 10-15 minutes, so grab a cup of coffee or tea, and go! The survey will be open till May (date TBD) and be published by Q4 this year. The survey is most applicable to mobile health app developers, project managers, publishers, co-founders, digital health experts, influencers, opinion makers, and investors–in other words, our Readers!

The R2G App Developer Economics Survey is supported by a stellar roster of distribution partners, accelerators, and media partners including Bayer, PCHAlliance, Health 2.0, dhaca…and TTA.

Q1 digital health investment: two perspectives from StartUp Health and Rock Health

April 11, 2017 | by

StartUp Health’s and Rock Health’s investment/M&A roundups from Q1 2017 have just hit the deck. Before we dig into them, let’s start with the differences in methodology:

  • Rock Health tracks deals only over $2 million in value; StartUp Health seems to have no minimum or maximum; the latter includes early stage deals at a lower value.
  • StartUp Health gathers in international deals at all levels, whereas Rock Health includes only US-funded ventures.
  • Rock Health omits healthcare services companies (citing Forward, Oscar), biotech/diagnostic companies (GRAIL, Theranos), and software companies not solely focused on healthcare (Zenefits)
  • StartUp Health defines ‘digital health’ differently than Rock Health, with categories of ‘patient/consumer experience’, ‘wellness’, ‘personalized health/quantified self’, and ‘research’

StartUp Health is ‘over the moon’, breathlessly (appropriately as the home of the 25-year Health Moonshot) with Q1 trending, seeing the biggest investment quarter since 2010 at $2.5 bn. Topping up this number was GRAIL, which is developing a blood test for early cancer detection, with a massive Series B at $914 million. Far behind it in the $85-110 million range were (in descending order) Alignment Healthcare (population health), PatientsLikeMe (patient/consumer experience), Nuna (big data/analytics), and PointClickCare (EHR). Population health, patient/consumer experience, and research top their investment activity. Most deals are still seed and Series A (59 percent), but that is down five points from full year 2016; Series B’s share is up three points to 25 percent. But it remains a difficult bridge to cross to C+ rounds.

Rock Health splits the difference and calls it ‘business as usual’, surprised that there hasn’t been a tailspin. Its Q1 sandwiches between 2016 and 2015, well above 2015 but trending 23 percent below Q1 2016. Their biggest deals include the aforementioned Alignment, PatientsLikeMe and Nuna, omitting GRAIL and PointClickCare. Their top three investment categories are analytics/big data, care coordination, and telemedicine (over $50 million). Rock Health tracked almost 20 M&A, noting that many transactions are now ex-California. They also uniquely track public company performance. Here in 2016 is where Readers first noted weakness in NantHealth, but Fitbit and Castlight Health also had miserable quarters. Teladoc, Evolent Health (consulting), and Care.com had a good winter as well. Let’s see what Q2 brings.

‘Playing the niches’: telemedicine disrupting the optical industry with a 5 min vision exam

April 11, 2017 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/0329171903a-e1491509704867.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /] This Editor visited a ‘demo evening’ for Smart Vision Labs, which has developed an iPhone based system that takes a basic vision exam for fitting glasses or checking contact lenses that takes just five minutes. The system uses wavefront technology that takes photos of each eye for refraction measurements, including pupillary distance, and some patient questions, which are key to getting an accurate glasses prescription. The telemedicine part is that the digital data is stored and forwarded to a licensed ophthalmologist, who reviews it for basic conditions such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. Smart Vision then emails the vision provider with the results and prescription within 24 hours, also storing it for the patient in a secure site they can access with a login.

The SVOne Enterprise (pictured) is the third generation of the original device developed by founder Yaopeng Zhou, PhD and Marc Albanese, who met while graduate students in electrical engineering at Boston University, working on research in adaptive optics at Boston’s Schepens Eye Research Institute. While MBA students, they revived their optical interest based on market opportunity. Some barriers to vision health they wanted to disrupt: the general shortage of ophthalmologists, optometrists, and opticians; the reluctance of many people to have their eyes examined, cost, time, and convenience. They started in 2013, raised $2.5 million between 2014-15, and capped it with a Series A of $6.1 million in 2015 through Techstar Ventures and four other investors (Crunchbase).

According to their new senior VP of marketing, Josef Katz, the SVOne can break many barriers by being quick, easy and accurate. “We’re disrupting a very established business, but we’re also expanding it.” (more…)

Another Theranos on boil? Patrick Soon-Shiong’s companies and the NantHealth Foundation (update)

April 11, 2017 | by

Billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong‘s drive to take down cancer through vaccines, genomics, software, and related health tech is one of the key missions of his NantHealth group and also the Foundation. Both fund research efforts such as Cancer Breakthroughs 2020, which is supported by former Vice President Joseph Biden. Reportedly, the well-wired Dr Soon-Shiong wooed President Trump for a role in his new Administration, one that has not materialized. In February, we noted his appearance at HIMSS17 promoting his cancer vaccine which was approved by FDA to advance to later clinical trials, and also unveiled Nant AI and the Nant Cloud–but also an article published in Stat that gazed through the NantHealth veil and found little to compliment, including the trademark infringement suit brought by the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Texas.

Apparent self-dealing among various NantHealth companies and investors, which started to be unwrapped in Stat, is now further investigated in a long POLITICO article. The report looks at transactions among the Chan Soon-Shiong NantHealth Foundation, the NantHealth companies, and other non-profits controlled by Dr Soon-Shiong, then at charitable donations to universities and hospitals that in turn support his research and other companies. Three citations in the article will attract the Reader’s notice (Editor’s emphasis):

Of the nearly $59.6 million in foundation expenditures between its founding in 2010 and 2015, the most recent year for which records are available, over 70 percent have gone to Soon-Shiong-affiliated not-for-profits and for-profits, along with entities that do business with his for-profit firms.

The foundation contributed $3 million out of a total of $12 million donated by Soon-Shiong-controlled entities to a University of Utah program to map the genomes of 1,000 state residents. University officials say they let Soon-Shiong’s entities write the grant specifications. The specifications gave a major advantage to his for-profit firms, which got the $10 million gene-mapping contract.

Soon-Shiong-controlled charities gave a total of $15 million — including $10 million from the NantHealth Foundation — to a fund that benefited Phoenix Children’s Hospital, which concluded a pair of deals with Soon-Shiong’s for-profit companies for many millions of dollars.

It’s dizzying, certainly by design. If true, it appears that Dr Soon-Shiong’s favorite charities happen to be his own businesses, which raise all sorts of ethical and legal questions. The investigation also calls into question not only these dealings but also the Foundation’s tax-exempt and additional special status as a medical research organization. Will the IRS come calling? How Washington’s favorite cancer fighter helps himself    Also Healthcare IT News, which delightfully called them ‘funding indiscretions’.

Updated. A canary in the coal mine is the NantHealth (NASDAQ: NH) share price, which has crashed from a 52-week high of $21 to a current value of $4.32. To clarify, it has been in precipitous decline since January, and not just from this report. There is trouble in Culver City. A quick look over at Yahoo!Finance news items now reveal a brace of law firms offering class action lawsuits to shareholders who believe they have suffered losses due to “materially false and misleading statements”, now updated for the above information.

Entra’s home blood test for chemotherapy patients; Haystack’s ‘one blood test’ for cancer (UK/US)

April 11, 2017 | by

[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Entra.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]Entra is a London startup company developing a quick, home-based blood test for clinically valid blood counts. Targeted to the needs of chemotherapy patients, where blood counts are critical in their receiving and timing of treatments, the Affinity (photo left) is designed to take a small sample, analyze it, wirelessly send the information to the hospital or clinic, and enter into the patient’s EHR. It is currently being tested with The Royal Marsden Hospital, a leading UK cancer center, to validate its optical analytics and generate cost-effectiveness data. Blood counts are not only critical to correct patient treatment, but also to assigning and canceling appointments. Entra is being supported by £1.14 million in funding from Innovate UK, much of it through the Biomedical Catalyst. The timeline to commercial release is being estimated at two years. It’s anticipated that once verified, the blood count technology could be further developed for other uses. Gov.UK. Hat tip to our Eye on Tenders, Susanne Woodman

Raising funds for another type of blood testing is a NYC-based biotech company, Haystack, which is pioneering a single blood test for multiple cancers through proteome molecular profiling. Its goal is early detection of multiple cancers through one test using panels of biomarkers. The research team headed by John Wilson, PhD, who is affiliated with Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, are ready first with pancreatic and lung cancer samples. This has gained the interest of pharma companies who are seeking a companion diagnostic for their drug trials. It was also a category winner at MedStartr’s #MedMo16 last December and presenter at #RISE2017 in March. Haystack’s MedStartr page. Video of Haystack’s presentation at #RISE2017 is on YouTube here (at 58:00) TTA is a MedStartr and Health 2.0 NYC supporter/media sponsor since 2010; event videos are available at Medstartr.tv.

Tender Alerts: UWE Bristol, University of Plymouth (closing ASAP!)

April 10, 2017 | by

Our Eye on Tenders, Susanne Woodman, has alerted us to two new related-to-health-tech tenders via Gov.UK Contracts Finder. These are all closing by end of month. Full descriptions, information on submission, and contacts are on the respective Gov.UK pages:

Health Tech Hub for UWE Bristol. This is a construction project for the Health Technology Hub and lab areas. “The Health Technology Hub vision is to create a national Centre of Excellence in health technologies relating to independent living and home-based diagnostics. The project will involve the creation of new state-of-the-art facilities providing the necessary equipment and skills to support research and innovation in the field.” It is adjacent to the Bristol Robotics Lab (BRL) and a University Enterprise Zone. Closing 28 April.

E-health Productivity & Innovation Cornwall & Isles of Scilly (EPIC) – Specialist Programme Consultancy for University of Plymouth. “Creative England wishes to procure specialist consultancy to lead delivery of Business Engagement across the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly area as part of the University of Plymouth led EPIC programme. Business engagement will be delivered via a programme of webinars, events and direct face to face support in the project area.” The EPIC programme advocates innovations in health care practice. Closing 25 April.

Calling all digital health people in the North of the UK (and the South)

April 6, 2017 | by

Sadly the DHACA Day in Leeds on 27th April had to be cancelled because of competing events on that day – readers are reminded of the next DHACA Day now in London on 21st June – agenda still to be set.

Elsewhere, Nesta has updated its European Digital City Index, showing the position at the end of 2016
of the top 50 cities in Europe for start-ups. Not digital health-specific though very interesting, nevertheless. TechCity have produced a more detailed website exploring why the UK is the Tech Nation of Europe, which is excellently animated. Though with little mention of digital health it is nevertheless an excellent read, and resource…and something to make those of us who are involved in the UK digital scene proud of our achievements. And if you are a supplier looking for opportunities to capitalise on the UK’s standing, what better than to attend Healthcare UK and NHS Digital’s International Digital Health Opportunities event in London on 25th April?

If you are still feeling international though less interested in exporting, perhaps you might like to attend (more…)

How to unblock that health data in your EHR? Blockchain. (UK)

April 5, 2017 | by

The solution to that huge pile of patient-generated data, blocked and stymied in those non-interoperable EHRs [TTA 15 Mar], may be a system based on blockchain. DeepMind, Alphabet’s AI ‘skunk works’, is building a tool that it calls Verifiable Data Audit. It will be tested first in UK hospitals with which DeepMind is already working, including London’s Royal Free Hospital. What VDA will do is use cryptographic math to keep an accurate record of data used in the past to see exactly who is using health-care records, and for what purpose. When data is used, it generates a code based on all past activity. Any alteration to one part of the data alters the others and is quick to spot.

The UK test results will be interesting because, according to the MIT Technology Review article, patient records are considered to be highly fragmented. Another issue that DeepMind had in the UK was the NHS oversharing data with it for other projects, such as AI systems to diagnose eye disease, early warning signs of illness, and machine-learning approaches to guide cancer treatment. The VDA approach would, ironically, create an audit trail of that data. Another reason why we may be moving from Data Despare to Hope. Hat tip to contributor Sarianne Gruber of RCM Answers.

Innovate UK’s £12m innovation challenge; Chiaro gains £4.8m for women’s health tech

April 5, 2017 | by | 1 Comment

The Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst program now has a £12m challenge program for innovative projects in several healthcare areas, including:

  • stratified healthcare (both therapy and diagnostic components)
  • advanced therapies (cell and gene therapy)
  • diagnostics
  • digital health
  • enabling medical technologies and devices

The fund was established by Innovate UK, the Medical Research Council and Scottish Enterprise. Deadline for challenge registration is midday 31 May. A few more details: projects must be led by an SME either working alone or with others; projects can range in size from £250,000 to £4 million and to last between 12 and 36 months; businesses could attract up to 70 percent of their project costs. Innovate UK/Gov.UK page.

‘Fem-Tech’ is a new term to this Editor, but it perfectly describes Chiaro with its smart pelvic floor exercise tool and app, Elvie. It was originally grant-funded by Innovate UK, but has gained an additional £4.8 million from Octopus Ventures and Allbright for a total funding of £9.6 million. It is profitable with direct sales of £800,000, which is another proof that innovators ‘playing the niches’ in the current fragmented environment may be the smartest of all. Plans include building on current major retailers including John Lewis and Amazon, developing three more smart female health products and expand into 25 countries. Innovate UK/Gov.UK page  Hat tip for both Innovate UK items to our Eye on Tenders, Susanne Woodman.

Tender alert: London Hillingdon 24/7 telecare monitoring (due 5 May!)

April 5, 2017 | by

Our Eye on Tenders, Susanne Woodman, has located a just-published telecare tender for the London Borough of Hillingdon UB8 1UW.

Description: The London Borough of Hillingdon (the Council) is inviting tenders from suitably experienced organisations capable of providing a Telecare emergency alarm system and 24- hour telephone support for the Council (the Services).

The specification is split across two service requirements;
A. Social Alarm and telecare 24/7 monitoring services;
B. Provision of an out of hours emergency answering service.

The London Borough of Hillingdon (the Council) currently operates 21 sheltered housing developments across the borough, consisting of 838 units. All sheltered housing accommodation is connected to the current Telecare call handling system provided by Jontek.

The current system is monitored by Council staff 24/7; this would switch 24/7 monitoring to an outside sole contractor. It is a three-year contract starting 1 September and ending 31 August 2020, with an extension of one year. The estimated value is £1.5m.

Application deadline is 5 May. More information is on the Gov.UK Contracts Finder page.

Health tech overstatement of the day: ‘a contact lens that tells you when you’re sick’

April 5, 2017 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Lens.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]This Editor likes Gizmodo, and doesn’t want to seem overly cynical or critical, but here we go again with an article that gives the impression that biosensing contact lenses are just around the corner. Our Readers will recall Google’s much hyped glucose-sensing lens developed with Novartis/Alcon dating back to 2014 [TTA 27 Mar 15]. This research is out of Oregon State University and is testing a transparent biosensor which will detect glucose levels in tears. The biosensor contains a transparent sheet of IGZO (gallium zinc oxide) transistors and glucose oxidase, an enzyme that breaks down glucose. In breaking down the glucose, it causes the pH level to shift and generate a measurable change in the electrical current going through the IGZO transistors. The researchers project that 2,500 of these transistors could be embedded in the lens, enabling multiple sensors detecting multiple chemicals which could lead to disease detection.

Why raise the yellow flag? If the lenses are to be used for continuous monitoring or even short term, thick lenses (like the old hard plastic or gas-permeable) require a period of wear-in to get the cornea habituated to it, and even after, there is the hazard of corneal abrasion. Irritation is especially hazardous for diabetics, who have a greater likelihood of eye injury and also related vision problems. Animal testing of the current version is over a year away. They don’t yet have a way to power the lens sensors. Contact lenses with sensors for various problems (e.g. Sensimed’s lens for glaucoma intra-ocular pressure) and Samsung’s Gear Blink embedded camera have been prototyped for years and none have made it into commercial release. Cost is a major unanswered question. While the researchers are to be applauded for the approach and applying it to other chemicals detectable in the eye, disease-sensing contact lenses will take years to be commercially available, if ever, and the article largely makes them seem just around the corner. Thin films applied to the skin for vital signs monitoring seem so much more…wearable [TTA 3 Feb]. Research to be presented at the American Chemical Society‘s annual meeting today (4 April). Photo is artist’s depiction of lens, courtesy of OSU

Independent For Longer website debuts (UK)

March 31, 2017 | by

The Independent for Longer website has been profiled on the website magazine Ucan2, which highlights mobility aids, assistive technologies, and techniques for better management of a wide variety of disabilities, including learning and autism spectrum. The website showcases real-life TECS (technology enabled care solutions) in the form of seven ‘case studies’ spanning ages from 20 to 79: brain injury, stroke, epilepsy, collapse, ill health, heart failure, and learning difficulties. Each leads the viewer through how a home can be enabled through the selective use of equipment to support independent living. The eighth section is about ‘Billy the Dog’, the Dementia Dog funded through JustGiving in memory of Tynetec’s Billy and Lisa Graham. The ‘Interested in Telecare’ page, where the user can find a service provider, links to the ‘Consumers and Carers’ page of the TSA website, where the first tab is ‘Find a Service’. This website is funded by Tynetec, which is part of Legrand Assisted Living and Healthcare–but is unbranded. Tynetec and Legrand are long-time supporters of this website.

higi kiosks get ‘vitamin B’ from BCBS Venture Partners, acquires EveryMove fitness incentive app

March 30, 2017 | by

higi, the wellness kiosk + consumer engagement program, received an infusion of ‘vitamin B’–as in Series B–from Blue Cross Blue Shield Venture Partners. The exact amount is undisclosed in reports. This adds to their Jan 2016 $40 million venture round (Crunchbase). BCBS Venture Partners is the investment arm of the BlueCross BlueShield trade association, which licenses the BCBS names to insurers.

They also took the opportunity to announce their acquisition of the EveryMove fitness tracker/wellness incentive app primarily marketed to employers. The tie-in is that higi’s wellness program also integrates data from 80 different devices, wearables, and apps, plus the kiosk locations. higi claims 11,000 locations at places like RiteAid, Publix and Stop&Shop; 36 million users, 4.5 million who’ve signed up for a higi account and 200 million screenings. Where they need improvement is the number of sticky users who stay with them over time, which is where an employer-based program like EveryMove fits. Built in Chicago, PRNewswire release

The Theranos Story, ch. 38: take our shares, but don’t sue us; Murdoch writes it off

March 29, 2017 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/jacobs-well-texas-woe1.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]What? They’re not toast yet? Far from it. We’ve missed the impossibly twisty soap opera called Theranos, and our latest episode holds to the previous high standard.

CEO and controlling shareholder Elizabeth Holmes is offering shareholders, supposedly from her personal holdings, about two additional shares for each one purchased. This has been offered to the investors in the 2014-2015 $600 million round who bought in at about $15-17/share (ch. 27), such as Cox and Bechtel. The deal dilutes their share cost to about $5. The caveat? Don’t sue Theranos. According to the Wall Street Journal‘s report (Yahoo Finance as WSJ is paywalled), it was approved by Theranos’s board in February, and most investors have ‘signaled that they will sign off on it’. Others are the family of US Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, the Waltons of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and John Elkann, the Italian industrialist who controls Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV.

One who is washing his hands is News Corp. executive chairman Rupert Murdoch. He reached a separate settlement for a nominal sum–rumored to be $1–to sell back his shares and legally write off his $125 million investment.

Others are not so lucky. Early investors before that round are not included. (more…)

16 or 27 million 2016 breaches, 1 in 4 Americans? Data, IoT insecurity runs wild (US/UK)

March 29, 2017 | by

What’s better than a chilly early spring dive into the North Sea of Health Data Insecurity?

[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Accenture-Health-2017-Consumer-Survey.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]Accenture’s report released in February calculated that 26 percent of Americans had experienced a health care-related data breach. 50 percent of those were victims of medical identity theft and had to pay out an average of $2,500 in additional cost. One-third (36 percent) believed the breach took place in hospitals, followed by urgent care and pharmacies (both 22 percent). How did they find out? Credit card and insurer statements were usual, with only one-third being notified by their provider. Interestingly, a scant 12 percent of data breach victims reported the breach to the organization holding their data. (You’d think they’d be screaming?) The samples were taken between November 2016 and January 2017. Accenture has similar surveys for UK, Australia, Singapore, Brazil, Norway, and Saudi Arabia. Release  PDF of the US Digital Trust Report

So what’s 16 million breaches between friends? Or 4 million? Or 27 million?

  • That is the number (well, 15.9 million and change) of healthcare/medical records breached in 2016 in 376 breaches reported by the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), a Federally/privately supported non-profit. Healthcare, no surprise, is far in the lead with 34 percent and 44 percent respectively. The 272 pages of the 2016 End of Year Report will take more than a casual read, but much of its data is outside of healthcare.
  • For a cross-reference, we look to the non-profit Privacy Rights Clearinghouse which for many years has been a go-to resource for researchers. PRC’s 2016 numbers are lower, substantially so in the number of records: 301 breaches and 4 million records.
  • HIMSS and Healthcare IT News insist that ransomware is under-reported, (more…)

A near-miraculous treatment for acute sepsis needs help with further validation

March 28, 2017 | by

Can health tech help? Sepsis, according to the CDC, is “a complication caused by the body’s overwhelming and life-threatening response to infection, which can lead to tissue damage, organ failure, and death.” It often happens when another underlying condition is occurring, but which cannot be located, but the sepsis is overwhelming and must be treated first. The sepsis has to be treated quickly, or else the patient winds up being a statistic, or worse, disabled or dead. The UK Sepsis Trust estimates 37,000 annual deaths (derived from an extrapolated dataset provided to the UK Sepsis Trust by the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre (ICNARC) in 2006) with an estimated 200,000 cases per year. In the US, the estimate is over a million cases a year (NIH). Worldwide, it may be 15-19 million cases. The odds are that sepsis may have touched you, a family member, friend or someone you know. (For this Editor, two in the past six months–and one did not make it.)

There may be a treatment that is both effective and cost-effective, a combination that is hard to beat. It was developed on the ICU front lines at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital (Norfolk General), located in Norfolk, Virginia. An ICU physician, Dr. Paul Marik, who is also chief of pulmonary and critical care at Eastern Virginia Medical School, had read journal articles on treating sepsis with IV infusions of vitamin C. For a patient sinking fast, to the vitamin C infusion he added hydrocortisone to bring down inflammation. (more…)