Starting with international health tech developments…

South Australia Health has rolled out Altera Digital Health’s Sunrise Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and Patient Administration System (PAS). The EMR and PAS is being implemented across over 100 hospitals and health services, in both metropolitan and rural areas, in South Australia. South Australia is fourth-largest state in Australia, covering 983,482 square kilometres, which makes it five times larger than Texas and 10 times larger than the UK–but has only 1.7 people per square kilometer, which makes healthcare service challenging. Altera Release

In South Korea, researchers at Asan Medical Center have developed a pain assessment model which can be used during surgery, a time when the patient cannot provide feedback. The metrics include tracking a patient’s heart rate, blood pressure, and blood volume change during surgery, then using a machine learning algorithm combining them that confirms pain during and after surgery. The study tracked  242 AMC surgery patients. Mobihealthnews Also in South Korea, their Ministry of Health and Welfare’s emergency services 129 app has added new features to access health counseling via the web chat feature.  A 24/7 chatbot feature now answers inquiries about health and welfare-related policies. The Ministry has been developing health tech features to compensate for staff shortages, including a regional emergency system for patient classification and transfer, a multi-institutional real-time critical patient transfer management system, and an AI-based clinical decision support system for predicting cardiac arrest, cardiovascular diseases, and sepsis in emergency departments. Mobihealthnews

Back in the US, an intriguing combination of brain-computer interface (BCI) and telehealth for stroke. Neurolutions, a BCI company, is merging with telehealth provider Kandu Health. and have raised $30 million from Ally Bridge Group and AMED Ventures. Now known as Kandu, Inc., the combined company will provide an end-to-end solution for stroke survivors. Kandu’s app and care navigators provide support in the hospital-to-home transition for stroke patients and families. Neurolutions’ IpsiHand device is designed to improve arm and hand movement, reporting improvement in 70% of clinical trial patients. Kandu will now be able to offer telehealth rehabilitation, therapy monitoring, education, caregiver support, advocacy and navigation. Release, MedTech Dive

VirtuSense monitoring launched at Emory Healthcare for virtual nursing. The VirtuSense VSTOne monitoring and telemetry platform is being integrated into Emory’s virtual nursing initiative in Peoria-area (Illinois) hospitals, Midtown as the first and later Emory Hillandale Hospital for a total of eight inpatient units and 1,000 beds this year. VSTOne uses LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology in patient rooms to detect falls, continuous monitoring of patient data to anticipate deterioration or emergencies, and care staff to call directly into patient rooms to expedite admission, discharge, and general documentation. At Emory, it integrates with Epic MyChart Bedside TV. Release

In company fundings:

• In the burgeoning ‘food as medicine’ segment, Nourish raised $70 million in a Series B funding round. Nourish works with national commercial, Medicare, and Medicaid plans to better manage and guide those with chronic conditions through nutrition. Users work virtually with registered dietitians along with a support app with AI meal tracking, wearable and lab integrations, recipes, and more. The funding was led by JP Morgan Private Capital’s Growth Equity Partners, with participation from Thrive Capital, Index Ventures, Y Combinator, Maverick Ventures, BoxGroup, Atomico, G Squared, and Pinegrove. The fresh funding will be used for product development, expand Nourish’s Registered Dietitian (RD) network, and strategic partnerships. Nourish is also a founding member of ATA Action’s new initiative, the Virtual Foodcare Coalition [TTA 10 Apr]. Release, Mobihealthnews
• Healthee raised $50 million in an oversubscribed Series B round from Key1 Capital, with participation from Fin Capital, Glilot Capital Partners, and Group11. Healthee’s health benefits platform uses AI to help employees navigate healthcare and benefits and simplify a complex enterprise benefits system. Interestingly, Healthee management claims that they did not seek the funding but were sought after. They will use it for scaling their product suite, go-to-market operations, and deliver intuitive, AI-powered tools for benefits. Release, Mobihealthnews