News roundup: UnitedHealthcare names new president, Neuroflow buys Quartet Health, Owlet intros Owlet 360

January 31, 2025 | by

The inevitable conclusion to a tragic event. UnitedHealth Group veteran Tim Noel was named this week to the CEO position of UHG’s UnitedHealthcare health insurance division. Mr. Noel replaces Brian Thompson, who was murdered on 4 December 2024 as he entered the New York Hilton to join that morning’s UHG Investor Day. Mr. Noel is a UHG veteran in several positions since 2007, most recently as head of Medicare and retirement plans at UnitedHealthcare, including Medicare Advantage, covering 13.7 million lives. The division’s plans cover over 50.7 million lives and is the largest US insurer. His promotion was unusually not announced in a press release, nor was his photograph or bio supplied to press–the new policy. 

He will certainly have his work cut out for him in lifting a shaken unit as well as negotiating the skyrocketing costs of Medicare Advantage. The comparisons will be inevitable, as well as reminders of Mr. Thompson’s death and the revival of public anger at UnitedHealthcare as the trials of Luigi Mangione proceed forward this year. For Mr. Noel, this diminished announcement must have a mixture of regret and sadness. Healthcare Dive, CNBC, Healthcare Finance News, FierceHealthcare

Behavioral health analytics and management workflow platform provider NeuroFlow acquires Quartet Health. Quartet, which is also in behavioral health but focusing on enablement and delivery, will expand NeuroFlow’s capabilities in referral and care navigation. Transaction cost nor management transitions were disclosed. NeuroFlow is based in Philadelphia, Quartet in NYC. NeuroFlow will be supporting Quartet’s existing payer and provider customers including Independence Blue Cross. Closing is expected in the next few days. NeuroFlow Release

Last week, Iris Telehealth separately acquired innovaTel telepsychiatry, owned by Quartet Health since 2021. Quartet’s announcement covers both acquisitions. Quartet had raised $267 million over seven rounds of funding. NeuroFlow has only $58 million in funding listed on Crunchbase. It is not known why Quartet sold itself and innovaTel. Behavioral Health Business

Telehealth ‘for the bassinet set’ Owlet announces subscription service Owlet 360. The $5.99/monthly service, initiated and billed through the Dream App, uses data generated by Owlet’s Dream Sock, Dream Duo or Cam 2. It provides information to parents comparing their baby’s information with data collected from other Owlet babies–a surprising 1.7 million. The additional information on their app is designed to expand parents’ knowledge of their baby and his or her environment:

  • Monitoring key health metrics by tracking daily and weekly trends for pulse rate, oxygen level, movement, and comfort temperature.
  • Compare health and sleep data to the vast Owlet infant health data set, offering meaningful context and reassurance.
  • Understand sleep and gain daily insights and guidance on sleep patterns.
  • Track comfort temperature to let parents know if their baby is too warm or too cold and to adjust the sleeping environment.
  • Watch, share, and save more video clips of precious moments or important notifications, like when their baby is moving or crying is detected.
  • View sleep environment insights like temperature and humidity trends in the room.

Basic monitoring information on pulse rate, oxygen, wakings, and sleep trends remains free of charge. Release

Optum rumored on the digital health acquisition hunt again with AbleTo virtual behavioral health

April 29, 2020 | by

Optum, the part of UnitedHealthGroup that runs engagement, technology, and financial services for UHG, is in advanced negotiations to acquire AbleTo, a New York City-based behavioral health and virtual therapy provider, according to CNBC. Unusually, there is also a number attached: $470 million, about 10 times their forward revenue.

AbleTo is already well acquainted with Optum, as their Ventures arm provided financing in January 2019 in a corporate round. Over the past 12 years, the company has raised close to $47 million through a Series D. Interestingly, one of the early investors was Aetna, pre-CVS. Crunchbase

Optum of late has been on an acquisition tear, with first dialysis provider DaVita for $5 billion and then telehealth/remote patient monitoring company Vivify Health for an undisclosed but certainly far less amount. AbleTo is attractive not only in the context of telehealth (at last the belle of the ball!) but also for the underserved behavioral health market. Confirmation of its attractiveness? A fresh crop of competitors such as Quartet Health, Lyra, and ‘traditional’ telemedicine providers such as Doctor on Demand.

AbleTo was founded by Michael Laskoff, at one time quite the ‘face’ in the NYC digital health scene, who went on some years back to found another behavioral health company, Annum Health, focusing on alcohol addiction. AbleTo is one of the pioneers of virtual therapy, both telephonic and audio/video, using care teams of coaches and LCSWs to provide short-term cognitive therapy sessions. It is certainly an underserved market with over 50 percent of those researched citing cost and stigma to not obtain treatments, with about 2/3rds surprisingly under age 50, but not surprisingly about half with one or more chronic conditions. Most of its business is with payers and self-funded companies, although it still offers individual therapy plans.   Mobihealthnews

NYeC Digital Health Conference (NYC)–next week

November 29, 2016 | by

NYeC Digital Health Conference, 6-7 December 2016 | New World Stages, New York, NY
The New York eHealth Collaborative’s Digital Health Conference brings together 500 senior-level healthcare industry leaders to learn about new innovations and to foster dynamic conversation addressing how healthcare is being redefined through technology. It is well on track to fill completely, so if you’ve been delaying your booking, now is the time. And our readers enjoy a 10 percent discount.

Updated and expanded agenda here.

Keynote speakers:
• Robert Wachter, MD, Professor and Interim Chairman of the Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, author of “The Digital Doctor: Hope, Hype and Harm at the Dawn of Medicine’s Computer Age” [TTA 16 Apr 15]. (To this Editor, this is a must-see keynote!)
• Steven Johnson, PBS Host and Bestselling Author, “How We Got To Now” and “Where Good Ideas Come From”

Some other speakers: Carol Raphael, the former CEO of Visiting Nurse Service of NY; Kristopher Smith of Northwell Health; James Mault of Qualcomm Life and Aron Gupta of Quartet Health. This year a who’s who of New York’s healthcare and health tech community will gather for two days of networking, lively intellectual exchange, and exploration to see what’s new, what’s cutting edge and what will shape the future of healthcare.

It’s worth taking the trip to NYC for this right before the holidays! For more information, click here for the website.

Telehealth & Telecare Aware Readers receive a 10% registration discount. Click on this link or the sidebar advert. Important–use code TTA when registering. For updates, @NYeHealth. TTA is a conference partner/media partner of the NYeC DHC.