Recent rumors predicted changes at Healthagen, the rebranded ‘Emerging Businesses’ unit of health payer giant Aetna, and that these would be apparent at HIMSS14. Mobihealthnews attempts to ‘Sovietologize’ Aetna chairman Mark Bertolini’s appearance (sponsored by Healthagen, not Aetna) and what products were included in the Healthagen (not Aetna) show floor display. First, the booth: only Accountable Care Solutions and health info exchange Medicity were featured. Former star iTriage (the original Healthagen product) was relegated to a distant booth. The much-touted CarePass consumer wellness platform? Absent. InvolveCare, the Healthagen caregiver app introduced last fall? Announced to be discontinued 28 April. In... Continue Reading
Search Results for CVS-Aetna
$1.2 million in digital health funding from Aetna Foundation
The Aetna Foundation has earmarked $1.2 million to fund digital health, including mobile health, specifically to support public health in “vulnerable and minority populations.” The grants will go to 23 organizations in 13 states, including regional hospitals and grassroots efforts. Cited in the release (reprinted in HITECH Answers) as an example was the Institute for eHealth Equity (IEHE) and Text4Wellness. The $1.2 million grant is part of a three-year, $4 million commitment to technology innovation in public health. Aetna is also supporting a call for papers to be published in the American Journal of Public Health. Deadline is 1 March,... Continue Reading
Powerhouse DC lobbying for telehealth, telemedicine
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/gimlet-eye.jpg” thumb_width=”150″ /]The Gimlet Eye observes from a houseboat anchored at a remote Pacific island, with coconuts and occasional internet to Editor Donna. Telehealth and telemedicine have reached a US milestone of sorts: the formation of a Washington, DC-based ‘advocacy’ (a/k/a lobbying) group constituted as a business non-profit. The Alliance for Connected Care is headed by three former Senators (two of whom were ‘amigos’) from both sides of the aisle and backed by a board including the expected (giants Verizon, WellPoint, CVS Caremark, Walgreens)–and the surprising (much smaller remote consult provider Teladoc and HealthSpot, the developer of the HealthSpot... Continue Reading
Is the ‘last mile’ of app certification efficacy metrics?
...evolved nearly two years ago when the reporting/analysis needed for this was largely not available. Newer programs such as Johns Hopkins’ mHealth Evidence and the new IMS Health AppScript [TTA 15 Dec] can dip into the ‘big data’ pool far more effectively. Will Happtique be able to address this, or leave the ‘last mile’ to others? And what is the real and quantifiable demand for app certification anyway? Health app prescribing by physicians is a question mark in this Editor’s observation; the larger market may be health plans and programs such as Partners HealthCare’s Wellocracy, Cigna’s GoYou and Aetna’s CarePass.... Continue Reading
The lack of evidence in health IT and patient engagement
...several redirections of app vetter Happtique. HealthPopuli Hat tip to reader Ellen Fink-Samnick, MSW, of Ellen’s Ethical Lens. Leonard Kish of business communications agency VivaPhi looks at the signal-to-noise ratio in both health apps and the endlessly touted Holy Grail of patient engagement–the signal being improved outcomes, reduced cost. Some positive indicators on his VU meter: Wellocracy [TTA 30 Oct], the WebMD acquisition of Avado [TTA today], and Aetna’s CarePass [TTA 12 July]. But then we arrive back at another Holy Grail: “The Holy Grail of Health IT right now is to create a trusted app platform and marketplace.” Perhaps... Continue Reading
Telehealth round-up: the good, the bad, and the future
Getting the bad news out of the way first, the seemingly-eternal researchers have thrown their grappling iron into the ancient store of data from the now-only-historically-relevant Whole System Demonstrator data pool and dragged out yet another unexploded bomb that they have then endeavoured to detonate, in the form of a short research article. Thankfully the explosive has deteriorated with age so the damage to healthcare technology adoption in the UK is becoming more muted with every addition to their respective CVs. Perhaps therefore it was for old times’ sake that GP ran the story that telehealth does not curb GP... Continue Reading
Two health app directories/curation sites debut, contrastingly
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/CignaGOYOU_Judging_720x426.jpg” thumb_width=”175″ /]Health app curation and directory listing is becoming a popular space with Cigna’s GoYou Marketplace, launched at Health 2.0 this week, and start-up MobileHealthMarketplace.com. Cigna’s move is clearly designed to counter Aetna’s CarePass, which is a more broadly centered consumer platform [TTA 12 July]. GoYou will include not only health monitoring/wellness apps but also lifestyle/money management with a strong social (rating/sharing) overlay. Developed with SocialWellth, the latter’s Las Vegas location must account for the blindingly bright, about-as-far-as-you-can-get-from-insurance graphics (despite the Cigna logo), to the point where the approach becomes New Age kitschy: “We want to inspire you... Continue Reading
Virtual consulter Teladoc acquires Consult A Doctor
...to medium-size businesses. Teladoc is VC backed: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (2011) with $18.6 million; $9 million (2009) by HLM Venture Partners, Cardinal Health and Trident Capital. It offers internal medicine, pediatrics, and family medicine physician visits either by telephone or online, depending upon the state, and has national coverage (although Texas law limits it locally!) Most recently they have piloted joint programs with insurers Aetna in Texas and Florida [TTA 26 April], Blue Shield of California (2012) and Highmark (Pennsylvania) along with partnering with telemedicine kiosk HealthSpotStation early this year. MedCityNews. Related: DHealthcareDaily interview with CEO Jason Gorevic... Continue Reading
Audax Health raises $20 million
Breaking News One very substantial bet was placed today on consumer engagement, with CE/mobile/social media-for-wellness developer Audax Health announcing a $20 million Series B funding this afternoon. Navigy Holdings, Inc. a wholly-owned subsidiary of Florida Blue (Blue Cross Blue Shield, Florida’s largest health plan) led the round, which included current board member Jack Rowe (former CEO and chairman of Aetna) and Dan Rose, VP of partnerships at Facebook. Audax’s main product is Zensey, a mobile-based platform for personalized health content, connection with like minds via online communities, challenges, health assessments and games. The funds reportedly will be used for product... Continue Reading
Health tech scenes we DON’T want to see
The real reasons for wellness monitoring in the corporate world, as seen through the eyes of the Dilbert comic strip. Could this be CVS Caremark or the average employer in five years or less? [TTA 12 April] Hat tip to Neil Versel in his Meaningful HIT News; note comment from our own Contributing Editor from Australia, George Margelis, on algorithms missing the healthcare point. [grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/192722.strip-Dilbert.gif” thumb_width=”650″ /]... Continue Reading
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