Thursday news roundup: RVO Health JV combines Optum-RV Health consumer health assets; Holmes sentencing for Theranos fraud delayed

July 14, 2022 | by

Red Ventures, Optum combine consumer savings, digital health coaching, education assets into RVO Health. Quietly announced via Moody’s Investor Services (PDF) and appearing on LinkedIn, this offloads media holding company Red Ventures’ RV Health, consisting of Healthline health news/education media (Healthline, Medical News Today, Psych Central, Greatist, and Bezzy), plus the Healthgrades doctor rating, FindCare doctor locator and PlateJoy meal planner services. Optum contributes their Perks prescription savings card, Store shopping service, and coaching platforms Real Appeal, Wellness Coaching, and QuitForLife. For Red Ventures, this moves 20% of their company earnings into the JV, leaving media such as Bankrate.com and CNET. For Optum, this expands their coaching and consumer savings capabilities into an established digital audience–Red Ventures claims 100 million monthly users of its health media and other services. For Red Ventures, it opens up new solutions available through Optum’s parent, UnitedHealth Group.

According to Moody’s analysts, this is part of Red Ventures’ de-leveraging: “Under the terms of the JV arrangement, in exchange for the contributed assets, RV received cash proceeds, which were used to pay down the term loan. UHG will consolidate the financials of RVO Health in its future financial statements.” Based on LinkedIn, it will be located in Charlotte, North Carolina. Unannounced is who will be managing RVO Health.  FierceHealthcare, Becker’s 

Ironically, Healthline Media’ main competitor, WebMD, bought the former data analytics part of Healthgrades, Mercury Healthcare, on 29 June (release).

Elizabeth Holmes gets a three-week extension on her freedom. Her sentencing, originally scheduled for 26 September at the US District Court, Northern District of California, in San Jose has been moved to 17 October. No reason was given by the court for the extension. Judge Edward Davila will be presiding over the sentencing on four of the original 11 Theranos wire fraud charges [TTA 4 Jan]. Each one of these charges carries a penalty of up to 20 years, but generally in financial fraud, sentences are carried out concurrently. Judge Davila, known as a tough sentencer according to the Mercury News (mercifully not paywalled) may be considering factors such as that Holmes was, after all the founder and CEO but that Theranos did not start as a scam, proceeding to fraud when the technology was oversold and financially started to go under; and that she is a mother of a child not yet out of diapers. (This Editor will add the smoke around Sunny Balwani’s emotional abuse.) She will also be in a Federal facility for women likely located not far from San Jose. It is expected that she will appeal the verdicts and the sentences.

There is also the Balwani Factor. Sunny Balwani was convicted on 12 wire fraud charges and as Theranos’ president, was depicted as the ‘enforcer’. That book, when thrown after Holmes’ sentencing, will not be a paperback. Although he will want to stock up on reading for his expected long stay in Club Fed. Also CBS News.

Share your story about healthcare inequities and community effects during the Time of Pandemic (deadline: 14 May)

May 12, 2021 | by

Do you have a story to share about how COVID-19 has impacted your community–or you or someone you know personally? Healthline.com, a leading US consumer healthcare information website, is seeking stories about how communities that have been impacted by inequities in healthcare have experienced COVID-19. Since many of our Readers are in organizations or businesses that support these communities–such as older adults, the disabled, the rural, in underfunded areas, and/or those who live without access to the internet–you may have a personal story about it. Were you able to overcome it?

Healthline has confirmed to this Editor that stories about communities outside the US are welcome.

Visit or share the following link to submit your story by 14 May. https://transform.healthline.com/submit

Rock Health: 1st Q funding deals up nearly 50%, approaches $1bn (US)

April 7, 2016 | by

[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/RockHealthChart1.001-1200×845.jpeg” thumb_width=”150″ /]Funding’s up, but the digital darlings have changed. The stock market and tech sector may have been uncertain kicking off 2016, but digital health wasn’t. Rock Health’s first report for 2016 exudes optimism. Compared to the same quarter in 2015, funding increased nearly 50 percent to $981.3 million, the highest amount since 2011. But the devil may be in the details:

  • Five deals accounted for 56 percent of the volume (in descending order: Flatiron Health (clinical intel for cancer care), Jawbone, HealthLine (consumer health info), Health Catalyst (data warehousing) and Higi, an odd little kiosk + consumer engagement program nationally placed in Rite Aid stores–odd enough to gain $40 million in its first venture round
  • Seed and Series A raises were still well over half–54 percent, over the 50 percent in 2015
  • Later stage deals (Series D and above) shrank to 13 percent in 2016 from 35 percent
  • Top categories also demonstrated the fickleness of funding favorites. Only two categories in the top six were carry-overs from 2015: wearables (driven by Jawbone) and consumer engagement. New favorites: analytics/big data, population health management, consumer health information and EHR/clinical workflow.
  • There were no venture-backed IPOs in the quarter, and public company performance was down (9 percent y/y)

The new picture favors what to do with the data–finding trends and putting them to use both consumer and clinical sides. And exits were popular as well: 187 was the Rock Health count, with fitness wear Asics‘ acquisition of the Runkeeper fitness wearable and provider One Medical acquiring the Rise app. Will the trend continue in 2nd quarter? Stay tuned….Rock Health Q1 Update