TTA’s Blooming Spring 4: UnitedHealth’s CEO change doesn’t stop market pummeling, Omada’s IPO, Theranos redux, Holmes loses appeal, Synchron BCI and Apple, exec security cost, raises, more!

May 16, 2025 | by

 

16 May 2025

One after another surprise this week. UnitedHealth Group changed out CEOs suddenly. The new one is a surprising ‘blast from the profitable past’ but that didn’t stop Mr. Market from taking the stock down down down. Another blast involves Elizabeth Holmes’ partner Billy Evans fronting a diagnostic testing-in-a-box startup. “Surprise, surprise!” No surprise that Holmes lost her appeal of an appeal–nor Omada Health filing for an IPO. Unfortunately, our investigator on all things Masimo met his own surprise walking on a sunny day–fortunately, Ted’s on the mend. More about BCIs with Apple integration, a chronic pain management startup, Parkinson’s data, two good raises, and what payers pay to keep their execs safe.

Short takes: Synchron BCI integrates with Apple devices, Shields Health partners with Duke on specialty pharmacy, raises for Cohere Health, Olio (More BCI action with Apple getting into it)

Theranos’ revenge? Holmes’ partner Billy Evans founds a startup for diagnostic testing, denies it is ‘Theranos 2.0’; Holmes loses Federal rehearing appeal. (Is Holmes advising long distance? Letters from a Texas Jail?)

News roundup: Omada Health files for IPO, UPMC-Redesign partner on chronic pain management, OK and PA AGs warn 23andMe users to delete data, Verily to build Parkinson’s dataset, what payers paid for exec security (Omada follows Hinge. But the last is surprising–between a lot and a little)

This just in: UnitedHealth Group CEO Andrew Witty steps down immediately, replaced by former CEO Stephen Hemsley (updated 15 May) (UHG may change out CEOs, but continues to be hammered by Mr. Market)

Best wishes to Strata-gee’s Ted Green on a fast recovery! (Ted, our ace Masimo investigator, was put rather suddenly in a bad place…use your eyes when you drive!)

From last week: This week’s drama was all about Masimo, developing literally as this Editor was writing. Their website outage was revealed to be from a cyberattack that took down nearly all their systems. Not good for a monitoring/tech company. But their good news was that they sold Sound United to Samsung–2/3rds off. The others deserving of more attention are Neuralink’s successful BCI implant in an ALS subject and UHG’s 1,000 app bet on AI. Not so dramatic: WeightWatchers’ prepackaged, quick bankruptcy, the NIH/CMS autism data project, and Amedisys divesting to salvage their UHG sale. 

Short takes: HHS forms NIH/CMS autism data project; Oscar Health beats Street w/Q1 $275M net; Centene’s $1.3B earnings; UHG has class action suit on earnings, 1K AI apps in production; Cedars-Sinai and Redesign Health partner on development; FDA, Lilly, Novo Nordisk win vs. compounders (Big step forward for autism research)

News roundup: WeightWatchers in 45-day prepackaged Ch. 11, Neuralink BCI successful in ALS subject, telehealth VR reduced TMD pain–study, AliveCor maxes up KardiaMobile 6L, TytoCare-Allina Health partnership, UHG-Amedisys divest some more (WW losing runway, a Neuralink win, Amedisys divesting to save their two-year-old UHG deal)

Breaking–Masimo Mystery SOLVED–cyberattack, website down for days, new websites up–and where’s the public explanations? Sound United sold. (Another cleanup on Aisle 10–the Sound United albatross flies off)

Holding this over: The weekend read: why SPACs came, went, and failed in digital health–the Halle Tecco analysis/memorial service; why OpenAI is going to be a bad, bad business (Grab the cuppa and lunch for a good read and podcast. Updated–Also Tecco’s blog post on why she quit being an angel investor.) 

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Telehealth & Telecare Aware – covering news on latest developments in telecare, telehealth and eHealth, worldwide.

News roundup: Omada Health files for IPO, UPMC-Redesign partner on chronic pain management, OK and PA AGs warn 23andMe users to delete data, Verily to build Parkinson’s dataset, what payers paid for exec security

May 13, 2025 | by

Omada Health’s IPO filing kicked off the week’s news. The chronic condition care management company is the second with a major IPO this year, stirring a dormant healthcare market. There aren’t a lot of offering details in the 9 May SEC Form S-1 registration and preliminary prospectus, but the IPO will launch on Nasdaq Global Markets under the symbol OMDA. There is no disclosure of timing, number of shares to be offered, or pricing. Their prior funding since 2011 is over $528 million through a Series E and debt financing, with lead investors including Andreessen Horowitz, Norwest Venture Partners, Wellington Management, New Enterprise Associates, and Founder Collective (Crunchbase).

Omada’s focus on ‘bending the disease’ curve via a ‘between-visit care model’ for diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and MSK patients has met with success. With a listing of 2,000+ customers and over 679,000 total members enrolled in one or more programs, their 2024 revenue grew 38% from $122.8 million to $169.8 million in 2023, with Q1 2025 by 57% to $55.0 million from 2024’s $35.1 million. Revenue does not mean profit, with net losses of $67.5 million in 2024 and $47.1 million in 2023, with $9.4 million in losses during Q1 2025 reduced from $19 million in Q1 2024. CNBC, Mobihealthnews, FierceHealthcare

Larger and MSK-focused competitor Hinge Health announced its own IPO back in mid-March [TTA 14 Mar] via a SEC S-1 filing and preliminary prospectus, but sent out word that it was postponing by April [TTA 8 April]. With markets doing much better, it’s anticipated that their debut on the NYSE will be this summer. Their funders which have invested over $826 million since 2012 are undoubtedly eager for ROI.

The Redesign Health-UPMC Enterprises partnership launches Glimmer Health. The new company supports primary care physicians to manage their patients’ chronic pain. Chronic pain affects 25% of, or 70 million, US adults. It addresses the lack of resources that primary care practices generally lack to manage the chronic pain of their patients. The Glimmer Health platform integrates advanced medical expertise, behavioral health support, and seamless care coordination via specialized nurse-practitioners, care managers, and social workers to coordinate care plans and guide patients. The company grows out of UPMC’s pain clinics and 12 years of experience in comprehensive assessment and multimodal treatment approaches. Ajay Wasan, M.D., M.Sc., professor of anesthesiology and psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh and vice chair for pain medicine at Pitt and UPMC, who leads the clinics, is now medical director of Glimmer Health. CEO is Alissa Meade, previously CEO of Together Senior Health, sold last year to Linus Health according to her LinkedIn profile. UPMC release

“Delete Your 23andMe Data!” say Oklahoma’s and Pennsylvania’s Attorneys General. Oklahoma’s AG Gentner Drummond finally got the news (via the wind whistling down the plains?) along with Pennsylvania’s AG Dave Sunday that 23andMe went bankrupt in March and it, or parts, are up for sale. The two AGs advise citizens of their respective states to delete their data, instruct 23andMe to destroy their test sample, and revoke research consent for their data. Well, the rush is over at least…it’s better late than never. The instructions are clear, though their efficacy with 23andMe in actually removing it, including survey data, versus following FTC policies on securing the data, is in reasonable doubt [TTA 3 April]. After all, user genetic data and information is all that 23andMe has to sell.  Oklahoma AG’s release, The Oklahoman, Levittown (PA) Now

Alphabet/Google’s Verily health data/AI unit to build a Parkinson’s molecular research dataset. With a $14.7 million grant from the Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF), Verily will be building what they term is a comprehensive molecular dataset to advance Parkinson’s disease research. The dataset is based on data previously collected as part of the Personalized Parkinson’s Project (PPP), a collaboration with the Radboud University Medical Center, in a two-year longitudinal study of 520 people with Parkinson’s. It included detailed clinical histories, data from the Verily Study Watch, imaging data, and matched biospecimens such as blood and cerebrospinal fluid. It will be made publicly available to researchers through Verily’s Workbench solution. According to Verily’s release, the molecular data includes:

  • A comprehensive, high-resolution immunogenomic data resource to fuel research on the immune system’s association with Parkinson’s disease pathogenesis.
  • Whole genome sequences for those that have consented to enable discovery of genetic factors associated with different aspects of Parkinson’s disease.
  • Metabolomic and alpha-Synuclein data, which have shown promise for assessing and predicting disease activity and stages.

No deadline was disclosed. Mobihealthnews

How much does it cost to protect healthcare corporate executives? Executive security is one of those hidden costs that is not always easy to determine. Some receive it, others do not, at least for public consumption or paid for by the company.

  • UnitedHealth Group in 2024 totaled $1.7 million in security costs.  The largest cost was for executive protection for Optum CEO Heather Cianfrocco, $926,989. CEO Andrew Witty’s security costs, not included in the $1.7 million, totaled $150,951. He was also required to use the company’s corporate aircraft for business travel (cost not itemized) and was encouraged to do so for personal travel, should the plane be available. Witty did not use it for the latter in 2024. Brian Thompson unfortunately received no security.
  • CVS Health did not itemize direct security costs for CEO David Joyner in 2024. His disclosed expenses from October on were $15,787 on personal use of the company plane; $7,713 for the use of a company car and driver; and $82,603 on home security. Personal travel expenses using company resources must be reimbursed over $250,000 (!). Previous CEO Karen Lynch racked up expenses of $242,051 on personal aircraft use; $95,199 on the use of a company car and driver; and $44,645 on personal protection. Security totaling $56,610 was extended to her for six months after she was replaced by David Joyner.
  • Cigna’s CEO David Cordani is required to use the company aircraft for business and personal travel. The latter totaled $231,008 in 2024. Spending for executive protection was not disclosed. Cigna does not consider security a perquisite for executive compensation purposes. There is no further information about executive security.
  • Elevance Health lists executive security as “other perquisites” and apparently it is modest. For CEO Gail Boudreaux, they spent $93,387 and for Peter Haytaian, president of Elevance’s Carelon unit, $36,213. Boudreaux also was permitted limited use of corporate aircraft for up to 50 hours of personal flight time each year not to exceed a total of $199,000 in costs. 
  • Centene Corporation discloses few costs around executive security, only providing it to CEO Sarah London until December 2024. Her 2024 security totaled $69,133. Interestingly, CFO Drew Asher received $98,358 in protection services and COO Susan Smith $33,244. London also had $143,854 in expenses for personal aircraft usage. Centene policy is that the aircraft is available for security reasons but did not disclose whether London or other executives were required to use the plane for business use.
  • Finally, Humana’s only disclosures around security was for the perquisite of personal corporate plane usage, and it’s limited. CEO Jim Rechtin incurred $36,166, with former CEO Bruce Broussard spending $37,434 .

FierceHealthcare’s Paige Minemeyer did the dig.

Help fund the NeuroNinja comic–a superhero with Parkinson’s! (Update–it funded!)

November 26, 2024 | by

Turning Parkinson’s into an adventure story. Steven Greene, an old friend of your Editor Donna and owner of a marketing agency, was diagnosed in 2009 with Parkinson’s. He has had all sorts of treatments and therapies during 15 years with it, including brain stimulation surgery. Steve’s experiences led him to develop a comic series, NeuroNinja, targeted to the Parkinson’s community. Our hero Steven, during surgery, experiences a freak accident involving an MRI machine and a quantum computer (left/above). Their convergence causes his brain to fuse with a cutting-edge technology, transforming him into NeuroNinja! He remains unsteady, unpredictable, and has Parkinson’s tremors. But NeuroNinja is, in Steve’s words, “a hero who reflects their daily reality, someone who embodies resilience, strength, and hope in the face of adversity. NeuroNinja is more than just a comic; it’s a symbol of perseverance, a reminder that even with a chronic illness, we can be heroes in our own lives. He uses his symptoms and unique abilities to fight evil, navigate challenges, and help others. His ultimate power? The strength to fight through his own struggles, because sometimes the greatest battles are the ones we face within ourselves.”

The series, completed through key panels and the first issue, is being funded through a Kickstarter that so far has raised just above $6,100, exceeding its $6,000 goal. It has three days left to go, so please look at Steve’s video and the entire proposal–and donate!

Update–NeuroNinja is funded! The Kickstarter exceeded its $6,000 goal at $6,350 backed by 54 people. Kickstarter has a feature called ‘late pledge’–click on the ‘back this project’ button. There are rewards available at the $65 and $200 levels and pledges of other amounts are welcomed too for the next 50-odd days.

Early detection of Parkinson’s via AI (and a surprising medium); Ed Marx on the digital transformation (or not) of health systems and COVID treatment at home

November 20, 2020 | by

Somewhat off our normal beat….but of interest.

Ardigen and The BioCollective are collaborating on early detection research for Parkinson’s Disease, based on a microbiome-based biomarker. Ardigen has developed an Artificial Intelligence (AI) Microbiome Translational Platform. The BioCollective has a bank of metagenomic and patient metadata generated from an unexpected source: Parkinson’s patients’ stool samples. Release

The BioCollective is headed by Martha Carlin, who came from well outside of healthcare and pulled together a research group to address her husband’s diagnosis. A visit to this website is worth an examination on how these samples are collected for microbiome extraction. An interesting twist is the marketing of a probiotic mix developed using their BioFlux metabolic model for ‘gut health’.

Ed Marx, the former CIO of the Cleveland Clinic, has written a new book, ‘Healthcare Digital Transformation: How Consumerism, Technology, and the Pandemic are Accelerating the Future’. It’s billed as a wake-up call for healthcare systems and hospitals under challenge by Big Retail, Big Pharma, and Big Tech. This Editor met Mr. Marx when he premiered his entertaining memoir, ‘Extraordinary Tales from a Rather Ordinary Guy’, a few years ago. On treatment for COVID patients, except for the very sickest, he advocates it being done from home. From the release: “When the pandemic hit, a lot of progressive organizations would send most of their Covid patients home with monitoring equipment hooked up to phones unless they needed a ventilator. It’s a lot cheaper than staying in the hospital.”

Dermal patch senses, releases meds as needed

April 1, 2014 | by
[grow_thumb image=”https://telecareaware.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/nnano.2014.38-f1.jpg” thumb_width=”175″ /]A research team from several institutions in South Korea and University of Texas, Austin have developed a dermal patch that not only delivers medication, but in the right dose and right time based upon muscle activity and body temperature. They developed a 2-inch rectangle made of stretchable nanomaterials containing heat-activated silica nanoparticles. The patch monitors muscle activity and body temperature, then releases a controlled dose of a drug. This would make it ideal for conditions such as Parkinson’s Disease where the drug should be timed when muscle tremors begin. At this point, there is no digital health/wireless component for recording, which is also needed. But given the long lead time–it won’t be ready for sale for five years. The Verge. Nature Nanotechnology (abstract only)