TTA’s Unofficial Summer kickoff: breaking up UnitedHealth to save it, post-GLP-1 weight gain, soft robots, NZ telehealth controversy, Midi Health widening women’s health, AssistIQ, Ambience, more!

May 30, 2025 | by

30 May 2025

Brrrr….it’s unofficially summer as we leave May behind. Our big article this week is your Editor’s think-piece on breaking up UnitedHealth Group in order to save it–and healthcare. We also look at post-GLP-1 weight gain–and what it means for providers, in-person and telehealth, ‘soft’ robotics out of Scotland, NZ’s telehealth war with GPs, and what’s doing at companies like Midi Health, AssistIQ, Ambience, Auxira, and Yosi Health. And plenty of weekend reading and viewing!

Weekend reading/viewing (for me too): Rural telehealth blackouts and value-based care’s ‘utopia’ (Set aside the time)

Short takes: Midi Health’s longevity care for women covered by (some) insurance, NZ government 24/7 telehealth scored by GPs, Auxira tele-cardiology follow-up launches (Two disappointments that look like advances)

News roundup: GLP-1 weight regain real, soft robots walk off 3D printer, Ambience’s AI coding beats doctors by 27%, Get a Second Opinion debuts, $11.5M for AssistIQ (Reality bites GLP-1s and a soft robot wee bairn)

Job Posting: Yosi Health seeks Demand Generation Manager and Manager, Data Analytics & Reporting

Should free-falling UnitedHealth Group be broken up? Or break itself up to survive, before it becomes another GE? (updated) (Not a rant, more a ‘get going’ to avoid disaster!)

From last week: The major news the week before US Memorial Day was the Hinge Health IPO, the first for digital health in two years–but the downside was that it was at a lower valuation. Denouements abounded with most 23andMe genetic assets bought by Regeneron, without a drink of Lemonaid. WeightWatchers’ time may have passed, new heads for Calibrate and Oak Street, and two more ‘arranged marriages’, Smarter Technologies and Fuze Health. An update on the VA EHRM in the budget. Masimo’s recovering, as is Ted of Strata-gee. 

News roundup 22 May: an inflight ‘save’ and AliveCor’s KardiaMobile, rolling out the VA/Oracle EHR in ‘waves’, Fuze Health formed from LetsGetChecked/Truepill, hacking and ransomware 92% of PHI data breaches (A renaming of a 2024 ‘arranged marriage’–can it be saved?)

News roundup: Hinge Health public @$32/share, lower valuation. Is WeightWatchers game over? Calibrate replaces CEO, new prez for Oak Street, NMC gets ‘Smarter’ rolling up 3 portfolio companies, another splash of investor ‘cold water’ (The first health tech IPO in 2 years and ‘smushing’ when they can’t)

Update: Masimo’s website status and an analysis of the Sound United sale (Getting up and running post-attack, but what happened?)

23andMe sold to Regeneron for $256M in court-supervised bankruptcy, sans Lemonaid. And is it worth it? (We come up with a number, it’s likely)

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

News roundup: GLP-1 weight regain real, soft robots walk off 3D printer, Ambience’s AI coding beats doctors by 27%, Get a Second Opinion debuts, $11.5M for AssistIQ

May 29, 2025 | by

Another review/meta-analysis confirms that GLP-1 weight off doesn’t stay off. A University of Oxford systemic review and meta-analysis of 130 full texts, distilled to 11 studies with 6,370 participants, determined the quantity of weight gain after discontinuing GLP-1 RA (receptor agonists) drugs. The gain was approximately 0.8kg (1.8 lbs.) per week for the new, more effective and common GLP-1 drugs semaglutide and tirzepatide, which means that weight loss was regained in approximately 1.5 years (76 weeks+). The meta-study notes that the regain is greater than observed following behavioral weight management programs. The study was done by researchers at the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford and the National Institute of Health Research Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, Oxford. Presented at the 32nd European Congress on Obesity (ECO) 2025 in Malaga, Spain.  Poster PDF here.

Another study from Sacred Heart University (Connecticut) noted last week as a sidebar to our WeightWatchers and Calibrate article also found that the weight regain was proportional to the original weight loss. The regain varied by type of GLP-1 drug, but the study labels it ‘significant’. Obesity Reviews (Wiley) 4 April 2025 

GLP-1 weight loss is not puppies and rainbows as it’s being marketed right now. First, 30% of users quit in four weeks and 42% by 12 weeks due to side effects like nausea, constipation, vomiting, and worse.  BCBS study, GLP-1 Digest 4 Apr  The flip side is that over half make it past the three-month bar. But it is not ‘one and done’, and right now expectations are not being managed well, especially by the teleprescribers advertising on TV and radio. For the clinically obese, to maintain their hard-won goal weight and health benefits, it will require management as a chronic disease,  continuing weight/lifestyle management, and perhaps another round of the drugs in future. For the non-obese, it requires continuing weight/lifestyle management and a recognition of the rebound. It’s a good news/bad news scenario for teleprescribers and pharmas: users will require ongoing management and may cycle through another round in a year or two- to lose weight again, but they could also be disappointed and not want to spend the money. Hat tip to the GLP-1 Digest 25 May on Substack.

A “soft robot” that strolls off its 3D printer. We’ve missed our robots. Scientists at the University of Edinburgh developed a new, inexpensive printer that created a palm-sized, 100% soft plastic, walking robot. When connected to a compressed air supply, the robot walks off the 3D Flex Printer (video download here). It’s not much to look at (at left in the picture) but soft plastic robots have great potential for use in areas such as nuclear decommissioning, the biomedical sector and in space. Designs for the printer are public and the printer uses inexpensive off-the-shelf parts that cost less than £400 and don’t require a PhD to put together. University of Edinburgh release

Ambience Healthcare’s ambient AI model now outperforms board-certified physicians in ICD-10 coding accuracy. Ambience’s platform, trained using OpenAI’s Reinforcement Fine-Tuning (RFT) technology, has a 27% relative improvement over physician benchmarks, which means a significant reduction in ICD-10 coding errors. The Ambience system combines scribing patient encounters with identifying the ICD-10 codes to generate a fully informed note that then allows the clinician to review and confirm accurate documentation and coding in real time. Ambience covers codes in over 100 specialties and is in use at 40 health organizations for documentation.  Release

Get A Second Opinion enters the DTC information market on medications. The subscription model at a modest $35/year solves the problem of consumer confusion over medications, interactions, alternatives, and cost. Its two tools are:

  • Discovery Tool: Analyzes a single medication and/or condition against a unique profile, generating a comprehensive report with rankings, supporting data, and average monthly cost—often identifying more effective alternatives with fewer side effects at a lower cost. The annual plan covers up to 10 reports.
  • Planner: Evaluates up to 10 medications treating up to 10 conditions simultaneously, identifying optimal treatment combinations while minimizing side effects and adverse interactions. The annual plan covers up to two reports.

The profile is built using their AI Diagnostician engine, which analyzes age, sex, BMI, medications, pre-existing conditions, and price. It  cross-references each unique profile with FDA data, medical studies, warning labels, and clinical outcomes. Get A Second Opinion also offers a 100% accuracy guarantee. Having all the information in one place is more than reassuring and worth it, especially when prescribed new drugs. Your Editor can say this from first-hand experience–and her brother is a physician! Release

AssistIQ’s surgical supply chain management system raised a Series A of $11.5 million. Funders were Battery Ventures, with participation from existing investor Tamarind Hill. AssistIQ tracks actual supply and implant usage in operating rooms and procedural areas using the AIQ Capture platform that tracks supplies and implants as they are used, eliminating RFID and barcodes, and integrating them into EHR and billing records with 98% accuracy versus half in manual systems. The Montreal-based company had an initial seed raise of C$2.5 million from StandUp Ventures. Its US flagships are design partner Northwell Health (Allscripts transitioning to Epic), Owensboro Health Regional Hospital in Kentucky (Epic), and others in coming months. It is also a partner with CHUM— Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal , the anchor hospital for the University of Montreal. Mobihealthnews, Battery Ventures release, BusinessWire release

News roundup: Apple Watch flagships cease sale due to Masimo ITC ruling (updated); Noom, WW enter GLP-1 telehealth business; Oracle sees health side up despite Cerner drag; Cigna has multiple bidders for MA business

December 21, 2023 | by

Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 going off sale in the US this week, upholding the ITC patent ruling favoring medical device developer Masimo. On 26 October, the International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that Apple in the Series 6 and later violated Masimo’s patents on pulse oximetry (SpO2) sensors and software. [TTA 27 Oct] While this is awaiting presidential approval in the 60-day review period which ends on Christmas Day, Apple proactively restricted US sales of its flagship Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches which contain the blood oxygen sensors. (The SE model does not and continues to be available for direct sale.) According to 9to5Mac, online sales end on 3 pm Eastern Time on Thursday 21 December, while in-Apple Store sales stop after Christmas Eve. Of course, this won’t stop resales of existing stock through outlets like Amazon, Best Buy, and eBay. Under the ITC order, Apple cannot import either model after 25 December as the ITC issued a Limited Exclusion Order (LEO) plus a Cease and Desist Order (CDO). 

The ITC is rarely vetoed by the White House in patent actions. After that point, Apple is free to appeal in Federal District Court, which is highly likely and where the deepest pockets usually win. Also HIStalk 20 Dec and Strata-gee 21 Dec

There are other wrinkles with Masimo, though. Strata-gee.com earlier this month (13 Dec) timelines Masimo’s patent difficulties with the US Patent and Trademark Office’s Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) ruling against the very same patents, decisions upheld by the Federal Circuit Court. The PTAB also ruled against Masimo in the requested review of two Apple patents. Apple’s retaliation is to threaten lawsuits on Masimo’s new smartwatches. The icing on this messy cake is the November Delaware Chancery Court decision against Masimo, awarding $17.8 million in legal fees to activist investors/shareholders Politan Capital Management and Politan Capital NY LLC in a board fight that culminated in two seats to Politan directors.  One can sense that Apple is biding its time, though they could end all of this by negotiating a royalty to Masimo. Updated: see report on the stay effective 27 December here.

Noom and WW enter the weight loss drug-by-telehealth race. Ozempic and Wegovy, GLP-1 agonists, are increasingly popular in off-label use for obesity to produce weight loss, prescribed and managed by telehealth teams.

  • Noom, previously stressing behavioral change via app coaching direct-to-consumer, in October announced at HLTH Noom Med, a drug-focused program prescribing medications such as Saxenda (liraglutide), Wegovy (semaglutide), and the new Zepbound (tirzepatide), a dual GLP-1/G1P, all of which are injectable medications along with other GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic.
  • WW or WeightWatchers last week announced the WeightWatchers Clinic program. Via their recently acquired telehealth weight loss platform Sequence, it will offer weight loss meds and team management.  

They join Teladoc in developing weight loss programs, though Teladoc supports a physician-based care product for employers [TTA 21 April]. Both Noom and WW emphasize that member patients must qualify for the programs based on weight, BMI, and medical condition. Participants are educated through materials, coaching on behavioral management, managing appetite, and nutrition, especially in maintaining adequate protein as these medications not only induce weight loss, but also muscle loss (sarcopenia). One hopes that their teams are also knowledgeable on how these medications that slow down digestion to induce a feeling of fullness don’t mix well with surgical sedation, and that they issue cautions to patients before elective surgery. MedCityNews, FierceHealthcare, Forbes   

Noom has also replaced most of its top management since its new CEO joined in July. There’s a new CFO, chief technology officer (CTO), general counsel, two senior VPs (corporate development and partnerships, healthcare sales and services) a senior director of brand and communications, chief growth officer, chief product officer, and head of people. FierceHealthcare

Oracle Q2 results miss forecasts in rebuilding Cerner. Oracle Health, including the former Cerner, and slowing cloud growth were the culprits in their fiscal Q2 2024. Total revenue was $12.9 billion, up 5% in US dollars (4% in constant currency). Analysts expected $13.05 billion. Excluding Cerner, growth would have been 6% though Oracle did not separately break out revenue for the Cerner EHR business. Investors have noted two consecutive quarters of off-track growth and a weaker forecast for the remainder of the year. According to CEO Safra Catz and chairman Larry Ellison on the earning call, many upgrades and “modernizations” are being made to Cerner Millenium that will wrap up this FY. Half of Millenium customers will be moving over to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) by February. They are also “rewriting” Cerner’s health and data intelligence platform, Cerner HealtheIntent, to get into population-scaled health management. ‘Transforming healthcare’ is an expensive proposition indeed. No word on the VA.  FierceHealthcare, Oracle release

And a quick follow up on Cigna’s sale of their Medicare Advantage business. Two payers so far–Health Care Service Corp. (HCSC) and Elevance–are reported to be bidding for Cigna’s MA business. The value of the business is estimated to be about $3 billion and with just under 600,000 members as of September. Both HCSC and Elevance are much larger players in MA. HCSC has over 1 million MA members in Blue Cross Blue Shield affiliates in Illinois, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Montana. Elevance, the former Anthem, has over 2 million MA members. Bidding is expected to close this week. While MA is losing money for Cigna, they could refuse to sell if bids are unsatisfactory. FierceHealthcare, Becker’s

News roundup: Cano Health board fight, board shakeup; Memora Health’s $30M raise; Teladoc enters weight management race

April 21, 2023 | by

The continuing drama at Florida-based primary care provider Cano Health focuses on the board and CEO. The three board members who resigned in late March [TTA 7 April]–Barry Sternlicht, Elliot Cooperstone, and Lewis Gold (who we’ll dub the Cano 3)–are now demanding that the company board reopen the window for director nominations at the 2023 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. In a letter/press release targeted to fellow shareholders released on Monday, the group cited “drastically changed circumstances”, exclusion of the three from decision-making prior to their resignation, and “the emergence and disclosure of additional self-dealing and concerning related-party transactions that were not previously disclosed – have cast serious doubt on the credibility and fitness of the current Board and CEO Marlow Hernandez.” The letter/release also focuses on the company’s negative (-83%!) performance over the past year. The three own 36% of the common stock of Cano Health, which means they have a very loud voice.

Cano management responded on Monday with a very long letter/press release of its own rebutting the “destructive actions” of the Cano 3  with a lengthy but somewhat anodyne six-point action plan to move the company toward profitability, improve performance, and increase liquidity. Point 6 was quite the kicker: appointing a non-executive chairman of the board, Solomon (Sol) Trujillo. This separated the chairman and CEO roles, with the highly controversial founder Dr. Marlow Hernandez remaining as CEO. Not addressed were the issues around Dr. Hernandez. He has been accused of self-dealing in two instances: $23 million to the CEO’s father for general contracting work, and $8.5 million to a dental care company owned by Mrs. Hernandez. Earlier coverage included dubious transactions with Miami medical claims recovery company MSP Recovery (also known as LifeWallet).

What’s interesting about this is that it may turn into a battle royal between two major figures: chairman Sol Trujillo against Barry Sternlicht. Mr. Trujillo is highly experienced in board/CEO roles in high-stress turnaround situations, such as at Orange SA and most recently Australia’s Telstra Communications. Mr. Sternlicht is well known as the CEO of Starwood Hotels and is a major real estate and private investor.

Cano Health was founded in 2009 and went public via a SPAC in 2021. It lost $426 million in 2022. The shareholder meeting date hasn’t been released yet, but in 2022 it was in May. Stay tuned. Healthcare Dive, MarketWatch

Memora Health raises $30 million. This venture round was led by General Catalyst and joined by several health systems including Northwell plus existing investors Andreessen Horowitz, Transformation Capital, and Frist Cressey Ventures. Memora has AI-based technology for complex care management and digitizes clinical and administrative workflows. FierceHealthcare, Crunchbase

Teladoc to premier weight management program using GLP-1 agonist drugs. This will be part of their physician-based care product for employers, and will target patients needing additional assistance in weight loss and diabetes prevention. The program provides access to a Teladoc-employed doctor for a personalized care plan, along with daily coaching with digital tools. Debut is projected during Q3. GLP-1 drugs such as the widely advertised (in US) Ozempic injectable were originally designed for diabetes management but have found a different market in weight loss. Companies such as Calibrate, Ro, and Sequence (acquired recently by Weight Watchers) are competitors. Healthcare Dive

Wearables ‘shocker’: Website beats fitness tracker in weight loss program

September 28, 2016 | by

The shock waves are reverberating through the wearables industry, but it is likely less than it seems. The JAMA study being cited was testing the hypothesis that technology could assist a weight loss program, and also what type of technology did best. The subject group of 471 at the University of Pittsburgh was young–18-35, prime for a wearable–overweight to moderately obese, and tracked for 24 months between 2010 and 2012 (!) The participants were started on a group weight loss program supported with calls and texts for the first six months, then randomized into two groups that monitored their diet and fitness either through a fitness tracker plus website (enhanced intervention group), or those using a website only (standard intervention). Both groups lost weight but the enhanced/fitness tracker group lost 5.29 pounds less than the website-only group.

The caveats: According to Mobihealthnews, the fitness band used was BodyMedia SenseWear, which was acquired by Jawbone and as they noted, put out of business. Fitness bands now also look and feel different than this early generation. Mobile tracking apps are now the standard versus going online which was necessary four years ago–a huge jump in convenience. But tracking itself may change behavior. The authors speculate that tracking data might actually demotivate people, or that activity ‘congratulations’ may lead to a bit of cheating. But they should try it with up to date trackers. Also Healthcare Dive and Reuters

Swiss capsule monitors blood fat

November 28, 2013 | by

Without the hype of Airo, a Swiss research team at ETH-Zurich has designed and is testing on mice a blood fat-detecting capsule that releases a satiation hormone when excessively high fat levels are detected, suppressing appetite. The circuit in the capsule can measure several types of fat, including several saturated and unsaturated animal and vegetable fats. If further developed, this could have impact on weight loss for humans.  Gizmag, Daily Mail