Short takes: Amazon dims to black Halo wearable line, eVisit acquires Bluestream Health, Moving Health Home launches to lobby Congress, government

April 27, 2023 | by

Amazon shuttering Halo health and fitness product line and services. On Wednesday, Amazon emailed Halo users that the line (View, Band, and brand new Rise sleep tracker) and services, including apps, will be switched off on 31 July. Users will be able to download or delete health and other data. Subscriptions will be refunded as well as all purchases made in the last 12 months. Remaining staff in the Halo unit will be laid off. This was not unanticipated given that Amazon cut jobs at Halo back in February as part of their mass layoff of 18,000 then and another 9,000 last month. Amazon is being quite ruthless in reacting to its 2022 loss and changing up its bets in healthcare to buying F2F care, like One Medical–as the Federal Trade Commission cleans its sights to hunt big game [TTA 23 Feb, 23 March] and the Department of Justice lurks in the wings, despite the sale closing. Engadget, Amazon notice, The Verge, Becker’s

Virtual care platform eVisit acquires virtual care platform Bluestream Health. Bluestream adds ‘white labeled’ telehealth as a customized “front door” for health systems along with virtual care workflow and LanguageLine translation to eVisit’s capabilities in automating patient care management for large health systems. eVisit picks up Bluestream’s 50,000 providers and 500 health systems to add to its 100 healthcare delivery organizations, 2,000 sites of care, and access by over 275,000 clinicians.  Acquisition cost and leadership/workforce transition are not disclosed. eVisit is based in Phoenix while Bluestream is HQ’d in NYC. This Editor first met with founder Brian Yarnell about 2015 or possibly earlier, when the company was operating out of two offices in shared workspace. Release, eVisit Bluestream acquisition page. FierceHealthcare

A new industry organization launches to lobby Congress and government for home health. Moving Health Home announced in March that it was forming to unify healthcare organizations to advocate for home health and to make the home a reimbursable site of care from insurers and Medicare. This spans prevention such as fall risk assessment and nutrition as well as direct care in the home including hospital at home. Members include Amazon, Hackensack Meridian Health, DaVita, Signify Health, Dispatch Health, and many others from the clinical, vendor, and provider areas. It’s headed by Krista Drobac, who has been for some time an activist in the connected health and health policy areas. Earlier this month, they announced that there will be a House bill, Expanding Care in the Home Act (ECHA) which is similar to prior bills both in the House and Senate.

News and deals roundup: Strive Health’s $140M for kidney care, coalition lobbies for more home telehealth, codes removed from PFS, Hinge Health buys Enso, HelloSelf £5M raise, Tyto Care adds

March 18, 2021 | by

Strive Health, which is integrating digital health and analytics into the much-needed area of chronic kidney disease management, secured a $140 million Series B round of funding led by CapitalG, Alphabet’s independent growth fund. Another new investor, Redpoint, joins current investors NEA, Town Hall Ventures, Ascension Ventures, and Echo Ventures. Strive’s total funding at this point is over $223 million. Strive’s model is the improvement of renal disease through managing specialized patient care delivery with payers and providers, with data analytics integrated into a patient care model focused on the home, e.g. telehealth and home dialysis. Financially, they take risk on chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. Current contracts are with Humana, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, Independence Blue Cross, SSM Health, and Conviva Care Centers.   Release, FierceHealthcare

Speaking of home telehealth, the Moving Health Home coalition, formed by lobbyist Sirona Strategies, has onboard a founding group of companies that are generally competitive with each other: Amazon Care, Amwell, hospital systems Ascension Health and Intermountain Health, risk-based senior care group Landmark Health, Signify Health, and big Series D winner Dispatch Health [TTA 4 March]. Their stated intent is to influence policy to expand reimbursed home health care and advance the usage of home-based health based on evidence of effectiveness and cost savings. STAT,  MHH release

Meanwhile, back in DC, CMS says “oops!” on four telehealth codes inadvertently included in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) [TTA 3 Dec 20]. The 3 March Federal Register notice removes four codes listed in the temporary Category 3, which will remain in place through the end of the year as the pandemic public health emergency (PHE) has gone into 2021. Becker’s Hospital Review:

1. 96121: Neurobehavioral status exam by physician or other qualified health professional
2. 99221: Initial hospital care
3. 99222: Initial hospital care
4. 99223: Initial hospital care

Hinge Health acquires Enso. Enso developed a high-frequency pulsed, non-invasive, drug-free musculoskeletal (MSK) pain therapy which has been branded and added to Hinge Health’s MSK offerings. Product website. In January, Hinge Health raised $300 million in a Series D [TTA 14 Jan] as a rumored prelude to an IPO and made some management changes in preparation for same [TTA 27 Feb]. Terms and management alignments were not disclosed. Release

UK’s HelloSelf has raised a £5.5 million Series A funding round from OMERS Ventures. HelloSelf provides digital therapy and access to “the UK’s best clinical psychologists”. HelloSelf enters a crowded field of behavioral therapy providers, with SilverCloud Health dominant in the UK with the NHS. HelloSelf is concentrating on the B2B segment with employers. This Editor notes the much lower raises UK companies enjoy even in this hot area. Mobihealthnews

Tyto Care added Spectrum Health, a western Michigan health system, for live 24/7 video consults using Tyto Care’s exam kit. Release