TTA’s Waiting for Spring 2: raises for Owlet, Zus Health, SpectrumAi, OpenLoop; Oracle Cerner VA EHR tagged with 4 deaths; ATA conference news; TytoCare clearance, more!

March 18, 2023 | by | No Comments

 

 

Weekly Update

Despite banks investing in health tech forgetting about their own risk management, there is some good news: raises for Owlet, Zus, SpectrumAi, and OpenLoop, with PointClickCare picking up an EHR. TytoCare picks up another FDA clearance. ATA hot topic discussion on proposed post-PHE controlled substance prescribing procedures plus their Innovators Challenge winners.  But VA and Oracle Cerner can’t catch a break in the Senate either, with four deaths attributed to the EHR implementation and four major safety issues revealed by their own sprint team. Contract review due in May.

Week-end roundup: Owlet in rebuilding mode including FDA submissions, Zus Health raises $40M, Spectrum Ai’s autism therapy $20M Series A (Someone’s getting money)
VA EHR update: four deaths traced to Oracle Cerner EHR; four safety issues identified by VA EHRM Sprint Team (The Leaning Tower of Trouble’s contract is up for review in May)
Mid-week roundup: TytoCare’s Wheeze Detection clears FDA, OpenLoop telehealth’s $15M Series A, PointClickCare buys PatientPattern EHR, last info session for Health Wildcatters’ 2023 accelerator
News from ATA 2023: debate over DEA in-person prescribing requirement, winners of Telehealth Innovators Challenge, 2024 board chair announced 

Not a lot of articles, but a lot of news. A busy M&A week for a change with Transcarent, VillageMD, and WW buys. Will Theranos’ investors see a penny in restitution? All while prison dates loom for Holmes and Balwani. Plus digital switchover/TECS meetings courtesy of UKTelehealthcare, Best Buy’s move into hospital-at-home, and Color pop health/testing says bye to 300.

News roundup: Transcarent buys 98point6’s virtual care; Best Buy-Atrium hospital-at-home; Walgreens/VillageMD buys another practice group; WW-Sequence digital weight management; UKTelehealthcare events; 300 out at Color
Did Theranos collapse because of Holmes’ criminal conduct? Holmes says no–and no to investors’ claims (The restitution debate ensues–and the defendant’s accounts are empty)

A short time to spring, but a bleak week of multiple reckonings.  Comeuppances range from the failing VA EHR rollout to former high-flyers Bright Health and Cerebral flirting with failure. FTC now wields a Lizzie Borden-worthy ax on DTC online health. Past the hype, Oak Street and One Medical show their downsides. One CEO thought insider trading was OK in 2021! Yet a few hopeful daffodils push through, like Theranica, Walmart Health, and Pixel Watch’s hard fall alert.

Week’s end roundup: Theranica clears, Pixel Watch fall alert, Veradigm delays, Walmart adding 40+ clinics by 2024, Bright Health’s dim future, Ontrak founder charged with insider trading
FTC takes off the gloves: $7.8M fine for Teladoc’s BetterHelp, warns Amazon (and everyone else) on One Medical patient privacy (Call the lawyers)
More VA-Oracle Cerner fallout? Deputy secretary, EHR executive director depart agency (More setbacks and delays in store?)
More gimlety views on CVS-Oak Street Health, Amazon-One Medical acquisitions (Some needed reconsideration going on)
Mid-week roundup: another hurdle for Oracle Cerner VA delay, Walmart builds out clinic infrastructure, Cerebral round 3 layoff of 15%, Evolent Health’s 9% layoff, Quil Health age-in-place tech shuts

A Magic 8 Ball of a week. Amazon-One Medical cheered–but is FTC eyeing them for a wider antitrust suit? Teladoc’s financials continue cloudy. David wins one against Goliath with AliveCor’s ITC review win. Theranos’ Balwani and mom x 2 Holmes appeal as coming appointments with Club Fed near. UHG widens its home care footprint with LHC Group. And is a PBC model a good one for your company?

Should your healthcare organization become a public benefit corporation (PBC)? (A business model that may fit your purpose)
News roundup: UHG closes $5.4B LHC deal, Teladoc’s record $13.7B ’22 loss, Olive AI divesting UM, Cigna exec can’t join CVS, VA anti-suicide program awards, Equiva-Infiniti ACP initiative, Newel Health’s Parkinson’s device
Breaking: Amazon closes One Medical $3.9B buy, despite loose ends–and is the Antitrust Bear being poked? (A contrarian and very gimlety view)
Theranos’ Balwani seeks to remain free during appeal, argues he owes nothing in restitution (updated for Holmes appeal) (Club Fed nears for both)
Breaking: AliveCor wins presidential review on ITC Final Determination on Apple patent infringement (David v. Goliath go on to the PTAB)

Revelations and reorganizations this week. Babylon’s Parsa admits the SPAC was cracked after all. GoodRx’s whacking on ad trackers only the FTC’s first strike. Skepticism reigns about CVS’ buy of Oak Street Health–and Amazon’s One Medical. Avaya has a Chapter 11 reorg and a few more companies lay off to get by. But keeping the blue side up–companies are still getting funding, a lovely Valentine tribute to Dame Esther Rantzen–and we’ve secured a tidy discount to ATA for our Readers.

ATA 2023 Annual Conference 4-6 March–a special deal for our Readers (ATA, San Antonio, for $250 less!)
Short takes: Avaya’s Ch. 11; Aetna sells India telehealth; fundings for IncludeHealth, Senniors, Thatch, Previa, MDI; layoffs at Collective Health, Vicarious, Olive AI (Our best to Avaya and those seeking work)
A Valentine’s Day tribute to Dame Esther Rantzen (Silver Line UK’s mover & shaker)
Is CVS’ Oak Street Health deal genius? Or a waste of time and $10B? (The skeptics are out for this one)
Mid-week news roundup: Parsa admits Babylon SPAC was ‘big mistake’, FTC’s strategy on GoodRx action, Oracle signs Accenture for VA training, Constellation delays ’22 reports, Emirates Health launches Care.ai and Digital Twin

This was the week the bills came due. DTC telehealth companies now under Federal scrutiny for monetizing patient data via ad trackers. Amazon’s One Medical buy further blocked–are health practices the right move facing a $2.7B loss? Football players pay the butcher’s bill with high rates of CTE. NHS Digital’s bill is that their magic tech fails nurses in the field. And Oak Street Health, facing the red ink bill, took the $10B deal from CVS. 

Digital technology falling (even) short(er) in NHS nursing: QNI report (UK) (When you are failing the nurses in the field, you have a problem, London)
Ad tracker action heats up: Congress questions DTC telehealth companies on sensitive patient health data sent to advertisers (No such thing as free money, and the bill is coming due)
Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) found in over 90% of deceased NFL player brains: BU study (We return to a past, heavily covered topic in time for Super Bowl)
CVS opens the checkbook, does the Oak Street Health deal for a generous $10.6B (Latest in CVS-Walgreens-UHG war–and DOJ waits in wings)
Amazon gets all tangled up on their $3.9B One Medical buy as FTC widens antitrust scrutiny (Will Amazon stay with it, given their losses?)

Can VA’s Oracle Cerner Millenium Be Saved in the looming Congressional Showdown? Can Congress save telehealth expansion? Can healthcare be saved from relentless cyber attacks? And can Matt Hancock be saved from his run of Bad Luck? Much more this week, plus a Must Read on Teladoc’s mishandled Livongo buy.

Week-end roundup: more House actions on telehealth benefits, VA EHR; Oracle exec moves to FDA digital health; Angle Health raises $58M; layoffs at Akili, Innovaccer, Athenahealth, Mindstrong
News roundup: GoodRx pays $1.5M to FTC on Meta Pixel use, ATA concerns on Covid PHE end, defending Livongo sale to Teladoc, Philips lays off 18K, Amazon health layoffs–and big ’22 loss, Ireland HSE digital head quits, Matt Hancock assaulted on Tube 
Killnet racks up 22 more healthcare cybervictims and data thefts; whitepaper on best defense practices (Cyberattacks are inevitable)
Pull the plug on Oracle Cerner in the VA! Two House Representatives urge return to VistA, send bill to Veterans’ Affairs committee (Back to the drawing board?)

A potpourri of news this week from Google’s antitrust lawsuit (and 6% layoff) to Dollar General’s clinic pilot with DocGo mobile vans. Ransomware attacks by AlphV/BlackCat fizzled and the DOJ knocked out Hive. Significant research on micro samples of blood and post-traumatic biomarkers published. Oracle has more VA/MHS problems, engineering head departs. Some funding and grants. And did Elizabeth Holmes really attempt to flee the country?

Rounding out week: Oracle Health engineering head departs; Hive ransomware KO’d by DOJ; Google sued by DOJ on antitrust, lays off another 12,000; Pearl and Precision Neuro raise, Enabled Healthcare ADAPT grant
Mid-week news roundup: CVS Health Virtual Primary Care launches, VA’s two-day Oracle Cerner EHR slowdown, and microsampling blood + wearables for multiple tests (Not quite a return for the Theranos concept)
Healthcare cyberattack latest: NextGen EHR ransomwared by AlphV/BlackCat, back to normal – 93% of healthcare orgs had 1-5 ransomware incidents (Expect more of this–it’s a movable war)
Using wearables to monitor biomarkers related to neuropsychiatric symptoms post-traumatic event (Significant research)
Theranos Holmes trial updates: did she book a one-way flight to Mexico last year, or were the prosecutors reckless and wrong? (You decide)
CVS, Walgreens, Walmart….Dollar General health clinics? (A low-risk toe in the clinic water)

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Mid-week roundup: TytoCare’s Wheeze Detection clears FDA, OpenLoop telehealth’s $15M Series A, PointClickCare buys PatientPattern EHR, last info session for Health Wildcatters’ 2023 accelerator

March 16, 2023 | by | No Comments

TytoCare receives FDA clearance for its lung sound monitoring algorithm. Wheeze Detection, which analyzes lung sound data for adults and children aged two and above, will be added to Tyto Insights for the remote diagnosis of developing lung conditions. The AI algorithm in Tyto’s decision support software analyzes their database of lung sounds against the patient’s, recorded by TytoCare’s stethoscope device, to determine if wheezing or other abnormal sounds are detected. Wheeze Detection was previously CE-marked for Europe. It’s an important addition as respiratory conditions account for 40% of their diagnoses over time through the TytoCare home-based telehealth + device diagnostic kit. Tyto Insights is part of TytoCare’s Home Smart Clinic, released last November, for at-home remote care targeted to providers and health plans. It includes Tyto Engagement Labs configured for each specific program and cohort that delivers on expected ROI and improved health outcomes. Tyto release

A substantial Series A round to OpenLoop. OpenLoop is a turnkey white-label telehealth with staff platform that targets two interesting segments: providers and digital health companies. Their $15 million Series A was led by Nava Ventures, with participation from new investors UnityPoint Health Ventures and PrimeTime Ventures, and existing investors SpringTide Ventures and ManchesterStory, adding to their existing $25 million in funding. Their network has 6,000+ certified clinicians across all 50 states, offers 30+ digital health specialties, and has capabilities in 15 languages. Also announced was the addition of a nationwide insurance payer network that allows clients to offer reimbursable services to patients instead of cash pay-only options, plus a payer coverage and revenue cycle management (RCM) service. Release

Senior/home care coordination platform PointClickCare acquires EHR Patient Pattern. Patient Pattern adds to PointClickCare’s position with long‐term and post‐acute care providers as well as with other high-needs populations with its EHR and care management platform that serves Medicare Advantage Special Needs Plans, ACO REACH participants, and PACE programs. Terms, timing, and management transitions were not disclosed. Release

And down in Dallas, Health Wildcatters is rounding up the dogies for its 2023 Accelerator. Their last info session on the application process is on 4 April from 2-3pm CDT. Their Accelerator is a three-month program, September-November, that includes only 8 to 12 startups. There’s intensive training, introductions to their 200-strong mentor and investor network (hopefully none from SVB or Signature Bank!), plus investment from Health Wildcatters. More information on the Accelerator here, registration for the application info session here, and 2023 application here. Final applications are due by 31 May.

A spooky ‘good news’ roundup: AtlantiCare rolling out Orbita AI, Health Wildcatters Pitch Day, RapidSOS, HealthJoy fundings and more

November 1, 2022 | by

This Editor has noticed the gloomy tone of the past few weeks’ postings. She has decided to ‘accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative” (in Johnny Mercer’s words) using the last few hours of Halloween (boo!) with nothing but Good News.

A health system is actually implementing an AI platform! AtlantiCare, which is based in southern New Jersey, will be rolling out the Orbita virtual artificial intelligence platform across its system, which includes more than 100 locations across Southern New Jersey. Orbita’s capabilities can link patients with virtual assistants and AI to streamline routine tasks such as scheduling, patient reporting, medication adherence, and care management. It also recognizes and translates more than 100 languages. According to Becker’s, Orbita’s functions will be rolled out in stages with the digital ‘front door’ going live in September and patient outbound communication capabilities in 2023.

Dallas’ Health Wildcatters finishes up its 2022 cohort with an evening Pitch Day at their new HQ on Thursday 10 November. Their 11 startups will present starting at 4pm in two sessions. With two networking sessions, the festivities start at 3:30 and go to 8pm. Health Wildcatters has relocated to a 23 acre campus, Pegasus Park, targeted to entrepreneurs and startups in biotech and healthcare to encourage development and collaboration. More information and registration links

And fundings are actually happening–for companies with an established success story + track record–and those at a very early stage where there’s promise, the risk is shared, and the investment is modest. 

  • RapidSOS raised $75 million in a venture round. It developed an emergency response platform that provides first responders with real-time health and location data from connected devices, apps and sensors. It supports 5,200 Emergency Communications Centers, protecting 95%+ of people in the US, across 150 million emergencies annually. Night Dragon Security led 11 other investors. Funding to date is over $280 million.
  • HealthJoy, a digital employee benefits platform for healthcare, raised $60 million in Series D funding from nine investors led by Valspring Capital. Their app bundles telemedicine, wellness, dental, advocacy, medical bill review, EAP, prescription savings, behavioral health, price transparency, MSK, chronic care, mental health, and others. FierceHealthcare
  • Pediatric telehealth provider Hazel Health closed a Series C1 of $51.5 million led by Bain Capital. Hazel partners with school districts to offer virtual care clinics inside the school nurse’s office. It claims to be the only company in school-based telehealth.
  • Others: Navina (AI, $22 million), Galen Robotics ($15 million), Midi Health (menopause virtual clinic, $14 million), and Lumata Health (virtual practice management for ophthalmology, $4 million seed)  Mobihealthnews

Also:

  • Valera Health raised $44.5 million in a growth equity financing round led by Heritage Group. Additional participants are Horizon Healthcare Services and Cigna Ventures, joined by seven previous investors. Total funding is over $71 million. Valera is a specialized virtual mental health platform for high-acuity patients with serious mental illness and severe depression with live health coaches to find a therapist or doctor, and creates a team with multiple clinicians. Their services can be used by adults (18+) and children, adolescents, and teens (6-18)  Mobihealthnews

Three healthcare startup events: MedStartr NYC Thursday 21 July, Dallas Startup Week starts 1 August–and apply now for UCSF Health Awards

July 22, 2021 | by

The startup events return….

Move fast–this one is tomorrow! MedStartr (a/k/a Health 2.0 NYC) is returning to NYC with a pitch event that is both live and video. Six startups are listed to be participating: Emedevents, Pelex, Beam, Gravitas Labs, Umbrosys, and ShereHealth.co/BrooklynMinds.com. If you would like to attend live at the location in Midtown, registration and tickets are here through Eventbrite. However, do note that proof of vaccination in advance must be sent in. For the unvaccinated and vaccinated without cards, a rapid test will be performed and those with a positive test will be sent home. Negatives may stay, masked if unvaxed. (So much for the indoor removal of same!) You may feel more comfortable opting for the video version which will be presented on MedStartr.TV or on Clubhouse (app requires installation). Hat tip to our old compadre Alex Fair 

And Hubert Zajicek and the Health Wildcatters have their Dallas Startup Week kicking off on Sunday 1 August with a full five days, with 21 tracks plus special events and summits. It will both in-person at the Southern Methodist University Cox School of Business and live-streamed on Brushfire. Registration is here (and reasonable).

Health Wildcatters is also collaborating with UCSF Health Hub for the 3rd annual UCSF Health Awards. There are 18 selected award categories, including telehealth, remote and hospital diagnostics, patient cost savings and life sciences. Applications are due on 31 July. Those making it to the quarterfinal will be notified by 16-20 August, with semifinalists notified 13-17 September. Final awards are 7 October at a live ceremony in Mission Bay, San Francisco. 

Texas Healthcare Challenge WISH-es on women in February hackathon (Dallas TX)

January 16, 2020 | by

The latest phase of the Dallas-based Health Wildcatters Texas Healthcare Challenge series is the Women in Science & Healthcare (WISH) Hackathon, taking place Friday and Saturday, 21-22 February at the Health Wildcatters office in Dallas. The program includes keynote talks, problem pitching, mixing, team forming, hacking, mentorship, feedback, idea iteration, pitch practice sessions, final presentations, judging panel, and prizes. Teams will use design thinking to create products, iterate business models, map out go-to-market strategies, and potentially build new healthcare ventures. It’s not for existing companies; you can register your group individually to form a team working on a problem that may result in a new product or company. There are several tiers of prizes, with the top prize of $1000, with four finalist teams winning $250 per team.

This women-only event is partnered with the Small Business Association and SoGal. Registration deadline is 14 February. FAQs are here. More about WISH.

Comings and goings, short takes and upcoming events: MedStartr Wed night, Mad*Pow acquired, Teladoc’s new COO, JAMA ponders telepharmacy, NHS London anxiety apps partner (updated)

July 31, 2019 | by

MedStartr Hyper Accelerator Pitch Night is tomorrow (Wednesday) night, 6pm, 31 July at Rent 24 in midtown Manhattan. Presenters are from the fourth MedStartr Hyper Accelerator Class including several MedStartr Venture Fund II portfolio companies. Attend through the Meetup link–still only $20 for presentations, snacks, drinks but may be higher tomorrow or at the door. If you missed it, follow MedStartr on Meetup.

And 31 July is also the deadline to apply for the summer session of Health Wildcatters’ Texas Healthcare Challenge on 9-10 August. More information here.

Our friends over at The King’s Fund have several upcoming events of interest:

And our friends at UKTelehealthcare remind us that there are several events coming up where they are organizing or supporting. Click the link on the right sidebar advert for more information on:

  • 1st-2nd October 2019 – HETT (Health Excellence Through Technology, formerly The UK Health Show), ExCel, London
  • 10th-11th October 2019 – Suppliers’ Forum and Providers’ Forum, Barnet & Southgate College
  • 22nd October 2019 – Cambridgeshire TECS MarketPlace,The Burgess Hall, Westwood Rd, St. Ives PE27 6WU

The Mad*Pow design consultancy is being acquired by Tech Mahindra of New Delhi. Mad*Pow’s original focus was on design for health, financial wellbeing, and social impact, and in early days held several interesting NY-area meetings. Tech Mahindra is the digital tech offshoot of the Mahindra multi-national industrial and IT giant. Yet in the Mad*Pow email to industry contacts, “Exciting News! Mad*Pow and Tech Mahindra Enter Formal Partnership” it was positioned as a majority stake and that they would continue to operate under their own name in Boston–neither of which were mentioned in the Tech Mahindra release. Hmmmm……

Verily she rolls along to Harvard. Luba Greenwood is departing the Alphabet/Google subsidiary to lecture at Harvard and work on several boards. She joined them as head of strategic business development and corporate ventures in February of 2018. She will be lecturing at The Paulson School of Engineering in a joint course with the Harvard Graduate School of Design. Mobihealthnews points out other recent key departures at Verily and a puzzling ‘why it matters’ about educating the next generation of digital health employees on a variety of viewpoints where digital health can lower versus increase costs.

Teladoc has a new COO, David Sides, who is joining from a CEO position at Streamline Health, a revenue cycle management company. The previous COO/CFO left after investors alleged insider trading and an inappropriate employee affair. Cited in Modern Healthcare is Mr. Sides’ experience in international markets, where Teladoc has been expanding through acquisitions. Teladoc announced today increased revenue for 2nd Q but earnings are still in the loss column. Yahoo Finance His position at Streamline is being taken by their chairman, Wyche T. (“Tee”) Green, III who will serve as Interim President and CEO. Release. Streamline is on NASDAQ and trading today at $1.35. 

Speaking of puzzling, JAMA indulges in an editorial around DTC telehealth and the conflict they perceive between convenience it entails and lower-quality patient care. Of course, their definition of telemedicine is primarily around telepharmacy. And like DTC medications, they are concerned about how these companies are appealing and growing. “However, it is clear that the companies want to expand to more complex acute care and disease management; for example, Lemonaid Health has expanded to include laboratory testing. Some companies envision a transformation of their platforms into 1-stop shops for comprehensive care.”

This Editor wonders if JAMA would consider two NHS-approved mental wellbeing services, Good Thinking and My Possible Self, partnering to create a tool to tackle depression, stress and anxiety in London, especially the latter in London.  My Possible Self is part of the DigitalHealth.London Accelerator program. Mobihealthnews

News, events roundup: FDA clears AliveCor’s first 6 lead ECG, Jawbone Health rises from ashes, Let’s Get Checked’s $30M check, Health Wildcatters’ $35M ‘how to’ breakfast

May 14, 2019 | by

AliveCor receives FDA clearance for KardiaMobile 6L, the first FDA-cleared personal 6-lead device. From the AliveCor release, the description: “In addition to the two electrodes on the top of the device, there is one additional electrode on the bottom. The user places her thumbs on each of the two top electrodes, and places the bottom electrode on her left knee or ankle. This formation, known in cardiology as the Einthoven Triangle, allows cardiologists to view electrical activity in the heart from six perspectives or “leads.”” The information is sent to the mobile device’s software including KardiaAI bradycardia and tachycardia detection features cleared recently for the single-lead KardiaBand, as well as deeper information into arrhythmias. The single-lead ECG space that AliveCor pioneered with first their snap-on then the KardiaBand is now crowded with the Apple Watch, Withings, and numerous others. It’s a big step forward for the company. AliveCor has opened pre-orders now at $149, to be delivered starting in June. Hat tip to co-founder Dr. Dave Albert. 9to5Mac, Biospace (release), Mobihealthnews. 

Save Your Jawbones, the Founder Rises Again. Yes, Jawbone founder Hosain Rahman just raised $64.5 million for a new company. The new outfit, dubbed Jawbone Health, will offer a “personalized subscription service where we take all of this continuous health data about you and we combine that with a lot of machine intelligence . . .” to prevent avoidable diseases. After having burnt to a crisp $1 billion over 10 years on wireless speakers and fitness bands, again Mr. Rahman goes into territory which isn’t exactly unique with the footprints of the aforementioned Apple Watches, Withings, Spry Health’s Loop, EarlySense, etc. But hey,  SignalFire and Refactor Capital in the Bay Area, Polymath Ventures and Meraas in Dubai like his style. Even TechCrunch is arching an eyebrow.

Let’s Get Checked checks in with $30 million raise. This NYC-based direct-to-home supplier and manufacturer of in-home test kits raised a $30 million Series B from Leerink Transformation Partners, Qiming Venture Partners USA, and Optum Ventures after last year’s $10 million Series A. Customers can order in-state physician-approved laboratory tests via LetsGetChecked.com or through partner retailers, including CVS, Walmart, Pharmaca, and McKesson online stores, with delivery in 1-2 days. Tests covering wellness, men’s and women’s health are processed by CLIA-certified reference labs with results sent to a secure online account in 2-5 days, with the customer referred to in-state physicians for interpretation of results and further action if needed. PrivaPath Diagnostics markets in the US, Canada, Ireland, and Europe. Release

Speaking of raising money, how about $35 million for your med device startup? Health Wildcatters is hosting one of their Pulse Health Startup Education Series breakfasts (7.30-9am) in Dallas on Tuesday 21 May with main speaker Ken Nelson from Bardy Diagnostics, which just had a $35.5 million Series B, presumably letting everyone in on the secret. Registration and more information here.

Events, Dear Friends, Events part 2: Newcastle and Texas accelerate, Aging2.0 NYC gets happy, AutoBlock’s Meetup, Wearable Tech, HealthImpact East

January 10, 2019 | by

Short notice–Thursday 10 January in Newcastle, Aging2.0 is supporting the Innovation SuperNetwork on their Innovation in Ageing Accelerator Programme. This is a collaboration that includes the local National Innovation Centre for Ageing, Newcastle City Council and Northstar Ventures. They are offering £12,500 of investment and 6 months office space in the Biosphere building on Newcastle Helix. The Accelerator is holding a four-hour workshop tomorrow, 1-5 pm. If you can make it, register here.

Wednesday 30 Jan, NYC. Post-holiday, post-CES/JPM, and mid-winter blues have you down? Aging2.0 in NYC is hosting a Happy Hour (drinks are on you) down at Grey Bar in the trendy Flatiron District. It’s Wed 30 Jan 6-8pm at Grey Bar (26th between 6th and Broadway). RSVP here.

Friday-Saturday 8-9 February, Dallas. The Health Wildcatters are sponsoring a two-day Texas Healthcare Challenge. Format is a “hackathon-like” prize competition focused on creating team-based solutions to problems in healthcare. Teams can apply as well as solo fliers who will join a team that presents at the end of the event. Application by 24 January. More information here.

If you are in the Cambridge/Boston MA area, the former Health Innovators, now AutoBlock, hosts a weekly Thursday Meetup at the Cambridge Innovation Center on blockchain in healthcare. Hat tip to Kalyan Kalwa MD 

And on the other side of the country, the 10th Wearable Tech + Digital Health + Neurotech Silicon Valley conference will be 21-22 February at Stanford University, co-sponsored by ApplySci and the Stanford Wearable Electronics Initiative. More information here. 

And looking ahead to warmer weather…HealthImpact East will be up on 21-22 May at the Google offices in NYC. 

Health Wildcatters Pitch Day event

November 8, 2016 | by

Wed 16 November, 2:30 PM – 5:00 PM CST, Dallas Texas

Texas accelerator Health Wildcatters is presenting its Pitch Day 2016 featuring 10 early-stage companies: Amity Cloud, ClinicalSolutions, Endogenesis, Friendly, HealPal, HealthNextGen, KnKt’d, MediBookr, Optologix, and Oqulus. More information and tickets ($10–if you book same day they are $20) can be booked here. This includes a reception afterwards at Health Wildcatters’ offices nearby. Hat tip to HW CEO and co-founder Hubert Zajicek via Twitter

Keeping track of a multitude of Spring events–US, London, Scotland

March 30, 2016 | by

It is less than eight weeks to ATA 2016 14-17 May and a reminder it’s time to register for this leading telemedicine and telehealth conference. Young professionals 35 and younger can save 37 percent on their registration, which they can promptly spend in Minneapolis. There are local delicacies like the Juicy Lucy (cheese-stuffed burger), which can be washed down with a drink at the Art Deco bar in the W Foshay. There’s always retail therapy at the Mall of America, which is a bit of a drive out of town. More local is walking off the calories in a visit to the Mill City Museum or Minnehaha Park. TTA is a media partner of #ATA2016. See sidebar for our link to information and registration.

On the European calendar, a reminder for Med-e-Tel Luxembourg on 6-8 April sponsored by ISfTeH (International Society for Telemedicine and eHealth). Online registration is still available through 1 April. Back in the US, at the same time is HX Refactored in Boston, a Health 2.0 conference on 5-6 April; this Editor attended when it was in Brooklyn. HealthImpact East in NYC, a tightly organized one day conference organized by Purpose Events, is on 17 May.

Last Wednesday in London, City University London opened their City TECS (Technology Enabled Care Studio) Smart Home Facility. According to the article, it’s one of the first ‘smart homes’ opened by a UK university, though this Editor must note that in the US, it was a phenomenon of the mid-2000s that popped up and endures today at universities like Florida, George Mason, Rochester, Iowa State and Washington State. It encompasses telehealth, telecare and complements the existing Clinical Skills Suite for healthcare education. A small disappointment is the apparent lack of diversity in the kit, as Tunstall and Philips are the only companies mentioned. News-Medical.net

A note to this Editor had details on an event a little outside our usual frame; the 2 June conference in Edinburgh organized by Scotland Policy Conferences, ‘Next steps for palliative and end of life care: access, delivery and integration’. “The recently published Strategic Framework for Action outlines standards and commitments for the palliative and end of life care people in Scotland can expect…including service improvement, early identification of needs and staff education.” Information and registration.

Add 4,500 miles and have breakfast in Dallas hosted by the always-interesting Hubert Zajicek at the Health Wildcatters seed accelerator. The monthly ‘Pulse’ event features education from a guest speaker, a local health startup’s pitch their company and networking. Next one up is 14 April. More information and subscription here.

Two US events: Health Wildcatters Pitch Day (Texas), mHealth Deep Dive (California)

November 3, 2015 | by

Health Wildcatters Pitch Day: 12 November, Majestic Theatre, Dallas Texas

This Texas accelerator will be presenting its 2015 class of 10 early stage companies in 10 days. Doors open at 2:30pm and the presentations are 3-5 pm. All attendees are cordially invited to the Pitch Day After Party which is a short two-block walk from the theatre at the Health Wildcatters office, 211 N. Ervay Street, 2nd floor. The $10 ticket cost is primarily to defray Eventbrite (having worked with them before!) as it is well-sponsored indeed. More information and registration here. Hat tip to Fiona Schlachter.

Deep Dive: Health/mHealth/eHealth: 8 December, 2825 Lafayette Street, Building 34 (EBC entrance), Santa Clara, California

Shrinking smart devices, sensors, cloud services, connectivity, and an aging population have all created tremendous changes in healthcare and fitness. This half-day deep dive meeting will discuss wireless and mobility solutions, as well as the fixed and fiber side that enables remote radiology and VR tele-surgery through robotic arms. If you are interested in the marriage of startup tech with the health and fitness industries, join in this discussion and networking. It probably pays to be a member as the non-member fee is steep. There are also ‘spotlight tables’ that are discounted 50 percent for pre-revenue startups. Sponsored by the Telecom Council of Silicon Valley. Information and registration. Hat tip to Editor Charles and Mike Clark.

Do startups truly threaten the ‘healthcare establishment’?

May 19, 2015 | by

Or are successful startups fitting into their game? Chris Seper in MedCityNews paints the picture of one side of a quandary. The ‘healthcare establishment’ fundamentally and to its detriment does not understand and is threatened by the startup and innovation process. A startup may begin with an idea which is, in his words, ‘almost always flawed, sometimes deeply’. If the founders are smart, they will test their ideas, validate them and change them appropriately. If not, they will fail. But it is easier for the Establishment to point at the most egregious of the bad ideas and use them to rationalize the status quo.

But being congenital contrarians, we paint the house on the other side of the street. Has the Establishment caught up with–or in some cases, co-opted startups, making them and their funders ‘do their diligence’ and be more cautious before emerging? This Editor would argue yes, and largely for the better.

**The ‘Wild West’ days are over. A few years ago, a truly bad or deeply flawed health tech idea or could easily find funding, because it was all blank slate, new and ‘transformative’.The sexiest hooks were Quantified Self, sleep, employer health incentives, interactive coaching, genomics, app prescribing and (last) wearables. A lot of founders imagined themselves as the Steve Jobs of Healthcare, down to the black turtleneck. Now there is a history of success and failure. The railroads reached the dusty frontier towns.

**There’s now a ‘Startup Establishment’. National accelerators (more…)

Healthcare Innovation Breakfast Series (Dallas, Texas)

February 18, 2015 | by

Having met and been impressed at mHealth Summit by Health Wildcatters [TTA 26 Apr 13], a Dallas Texas-based healthcare accelerator, they are doing some smart marketing in sponsoring a series of local networking breakfasts called The Pulse to connect entrepreneurs, medical professionals, and other innovators from the thriving Dallas healthcare and business communities with healthcare startups. Their launch is Thursday 26 February from 7:30-9am. Coffee and continental breakfast is provided and the cost is an affordable $15. Reserve here. Hat tip to Hubert Zajicek of Health Wildcatters via Twitter