The bombshells don’t let up as Babylon Health is now in US Chapter 7 bankruptcy as well as UK receivership. Cano Health is likely the next there. DOJ and FTC delay UHG’s Amedisys buy. DocGo’s big NYC contract gets flakked up. Amazon Pharmacy does diabetics a solid with automated couponing. And there’s some bright spots with a pick of future unicorns, a big Italian investment in Philips, and Access Group’s Oysta buy. Plus weekend reading on the next unicorns and how streaming TV is like healthcare.
Weekend reading: Forbes picks the next $1B startups, is TV streaming analogous to the future of healthcare? (Yes, there may be unicorns, and the fracturing of TV and healthcare)
Week-end short takes: Amazon Pharmacy automating couponing of insulin and supplies, Mendaera imaging/robotics wins $24M, Access Group acquires Oysta (UK)
Babylon Health files for US Chapter 7 bankruptcy, winding down Babyl Rwanda and ending care for 2.8 million users (Hull loss for Babylon. Parting out starts 12 Sept)
Mid-week roundup: DocGo in NY migrant service trouble, more DOJ scrutiny of UHG-Amedisys buy, Exor now $2.8B lead investor in Philips (DocGo’s big contract brings big headlines in NY, UHG’s Amedisys delay a taste of things to come)
Cano Health at precipice of bankruptcy after disastrous Q2, lays off 700 (Waiting to hear from the Cano 3)
The summer of bombshells continues into August. The largest crater is left by Babylon Health’s merger collapse and US shutdown. Some optimism in Q2 financial reports but layoffs at larger companies surprise. Few surprises in KPMG’s healthcare M&A report. Bright Health may survive, as Clover and Oscar pivot too. And last week’s Big News of HIMSS and Informa has settled into Not Much Change and perhaps better. At least for now.
Healthcare M&A hit a 3 year low in Q2 2023, to the surprise of none: KPMG (Many reasons why-and we add a few observations)
Babylon Health shuts US operations, goes into UK receivership (At the end of the runway and into the lights)
Mid-week short takes: Amwell lowers 2023 outlook, DocGo goes up, Imprivata + PFH win Ireland HSE contract, Oracle Health’s Nashville move, layoffs at 23andMe, Doximity
Living to fight another day: insurtechs Bright Health, Clover Health, and Oscar Health report improved Q2s, H1s (updated) (Bright still at brink, but Clover and Oscar pivoting)
Babylon merger with AlbaCore and MindMaze collapses, selling UK and transitioning US businesses, bankruptcy anticipated (The deal fell apart fast)
More details on the HIMSS-Informa partnership on HIMSS24-Global Health Conference & Exhibition (Net-net–not much change and perhaps improvements)
This week’s Big News was the confirmation of the HIMSS deal with Informa–not a sale but a ‘partnership’–developing. CVS having some profitability problems and restructuring, minus 5,000–as is Oracle Cerner. Meanwhile, Congress tightly reins in Oracle Cerner EHRM in appropriations bill. And now you can run to Amazon Clinic without (much) concern about your privacy!
Short takes: CVS’ $1.12M Q2 net income loss, forecast spurs 5,000 layoffs; Signify’s in-home kidney exams; Indonesia’s Halodoc $100M D; FeelBetter raises $5.9M; Medicare breach hits 612,000 beneficiaries (When you spend like CVS, something’s gotta give)
House appropriates $1.9B for Oracle Cerner VA EHR modernization, $5.2B for telehealth, plus other technologies; Oracle lays off more Cerner staff (Congress reins in VA+Oracle Cerner)
Done (and split) deal! Informa to “manage” HIMSS Global Health Conference & Exhibition (updated) (It’s a partnership. Really!!)
More thoughts on the pending sale of the HIMSS Global Conference (Developing)
Amazon Clinic announces 50-state rollout 1 August. Were the privacy issues fixed? (Maybe, at least in disclosures)
Another few bombshells go off while a heat wave descends. It looks like the annual HIMSS conference won’t be HIMSS anymore. Another ‘David’ faces ‘Goliath’ in the Dorsata vs. athenahealth lawsuit. The FTC/HHS-OCR noose tightens on third-party ad tracker use. Positive earnings news from Teladoc, GE Healthcare, Talkspace, a lot of fundings–plus Nextech sold for $1.4B.
Legal roundup: Dorsata sues athenahealth, provider group on trade secret theft, Nevada terms Friday Health Plans (Dorsata as another ‘David’)
Close of week short takes: Q2 earnings up for GEHC, Talkspace; UnitedHealth invests $11M in SDOH; fundings for two AI startups, K4Connect, UpLift, Family First
Informa PLC to acquire HIMSS Global Health Conference and Exhibition (A ‘landmark’ love-it-or-hate-it conference to change hands)
Mid-week news roundup: $105M senior debt to Headspace; Nextech bought for $1.4B; Teladoc’s Better(Help) Q2 boosts 10%; Peppermint’s online ‘clubhouse’ for seniors, PathAI lays off 87
FTC, HHS OCR scrutiny tightens on third-party ad trackers, sends letter to 130 hospitals and telehealth providers
It may be summer, but the bombshells keep dropping. FTC and DOJ dropped draft merger guidelines on antitrust–in addition to HSR premerger notification–that will have far-reaching consequences. We update the demise of Friday Health Plans (another 30K members in the lurch), the Cano Health telenovela, hacking from Russia to UK to US, buys, financing, class action lawsuits, and an order in the ongoing AliveCor-Apple antitrust suit that slaps Apple down hard.
Another antitrust shoe drops: FTC, DOJ publish Draft Merger Guidelines for comment–what are the effects? (New restrictions not good for founders, managers, VCs)
Mid-week roundup: Colorado terms Friday Health Plans; Cano 3 continue to savage board; Amazon Pharmacy layoffs; hacking attacks: QuickBlox, Barts Health; Phreesia buys MediFind; financing pops for K Health, Amino
Legal roundup: Teladoc class-action suit dismissed; NextGen EHR $31M Federal settlement; significant AliveCor-Apple antitrust ‘spoiliation’ update; class action suits filed against HCA, Johns Hopkins
We looked at the first half’s digital health funding (back to 2019), the trend to unnamed and down rounds, two up rounds, two layoffs, three mixed pictures of telehealth effectiveness, it’s an almost-wrap at MHS for Oracle, and Amazon’s dodgy approach to your privacy. Early-stage company financing and managing your financials? We have some advice.
News roundup: MHS Genesis EHR completes US rollout, telehealth selective savings by disease, CarePredict’s $29M funding, Amazon Alexa *Spying on You* (Confirming telehealth unevenly bends the curve)
Thursday short takes: Fold Health VBC $6M round, Vivalink’s RPM in Burma rural health, Vytalize adds two to board, layoffs at TytoCare, IntelyCare (The roller coaster continues)
“Hope is not a business model”–advice from two VCs, with a bit more advice on basic banking (We unpack good advice for early-stage companies)
Mid-week roundup: telehealth success in opioid use disorder treatment, Epic sees fewer followup visits from telehealth vs in-office, telehealth usage slightly lower, HCA data theft may affect 11 million
Rock Health’s first half funding roundup adjusts the bath temperature to tepid, the bubbles to flat (2020-22 an aberration)
A short week in the US with the holiday wasn’t short of news. Bright Health and Molina made a $600M deal for California plans–as long as Bright stays solvent thru Q1 2024. Insurtechs proved to be disruptive but not innovative enough. And a potpourri of news from FDA requesting comments on home care tech, Japan, Alertacall on funding. A new mental health company targeting seniors is born while an old one struggles.
Short takes: FDA seeks feedback on home care tech; Japan care homes piloting AI; Author Health’s $115M bet on senior mental health; Alertacall’s Batchelor on ‘right fit’ finance support; Headspace in the wrong (layoff) space again
Why the ‘insurtechs’ didn’t revolutionize health insurance–and the damage they may have done (Back to the legacy payers)
Bright Health to exit insurance business, selling California plans to Molina for up to $600 million–contingent on surviving to 2024 (A dicey proposition all round)
Wrapping up June before the US Independence Day holiday next week had its own fireworks. Most far reaching–the changes spearheaded by FTC for HSR premerger notifications that will only quadruple the work. Babylon Health completing its going private arrangement with AlbaCore. Amazon delays Clinic rollout for three weeks facing tough data usage questions from senators. More pleasant looks at rural telehealth on a bucolic Irish island and supermarket trolley heart monitoring. Happy 4th!
Ireland’s Clare Island as multimodal rural telehealth and telemonitoring testbed (Very rural health on Ireland’s west coast)
FTC, DOJ float enhanced information requirements for HSR premerger notification filing process–what will be M&A effects? (More dampers on a down market?)
Embedding ECG sensors to a supermarket cart (trolley) handle as ‘first-line’ screening for atrial fibrillation (Bringing monitoring to everyday life)
Mid-week roundup: Optum buying Amedisys home care for $3.3B; Clover Health settles 7 shareholder lawsuits around SPAC non-disclosures; Walgreens cuts 2023 outlook, stock plummets 11%
Amazon Clinic delays 50-state telehealth rollout due to Federal data privacy, HIPAA concerns on user registration, PHI–is it a warning? (Amazon better heed it)
Babylon Health to go private with AlbaCore in planned ‘Take Private Proposal’, combine with MindMaze (Merging two very different companies)
Of continued interest:
Mid-week update: Cano Health CEO finally booted, interim named; further information on Oracle Cerner layoffs (The Cano telenovela continues!)
Perspectives: How robust patient scheduling and intake enable better patient access to cancer care – a UK case study
‘Warning flare’ study: will pandemic-induced digital health solutions get renewed by hospitals in 2023-4, or will they churn? (Get cracking with your account relationships)
‘The Future of AI and Older Adults 2023’ now published (Laurie Orlov’s latest analysis)
VA awards four remote patient monitoring companies to share in $1B Home Telehealth contract (Medtronic wins again plus 3 newbies)
Watch your cash burn! Now 31 months average for startups between Series A and B. Now what do you do? (Cautionary advice for startups)
Perspectives: How AI and ML can accelerate the growth of telemedicine across the globe (Thoughtful take on the up-and-downsides of both)
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