Consumer Digital Health

Akili Interactive, a digital health company that got FDA clearance last year for its video game as treatment for ADHD, recently brought in $160 million in funding. It plans to use the funds to ramp up coverage of its flagship treatment and to develop digital treatments for other cognitive conditions.

The FDA recommends patients keep any consumer electronic devices that may create magnetic interference, including cell phones and smart watches, at least six inches away from implanted medical devices, in particular cardiac defibrillators. Many implanted medical devices have FDA-approved information written for patients (patient labeling), which cautions patients to keep all cell phones and smart watches at least six inches from the implanted medical device.

Covid-19 led to acceleration in the use of telehealth and home health monitoring solutions as health systems sought effective ways of delivering care while protecting patients from infection. Although the pandemic will eventually fade away, the market for remote patient monitoring (RPM) is another story.

Digital health startup Omada is adding virtual consultations with physicians to its platform. To start, the company is offering physician-guided care for diabetes and hypertension.

The use of lateral flow testing is increasing, and for societies to get maximum benefits from it, it has to go digital. The FDA knows this and has recently mandated that any new lateral flow solution must contain a digital component.

Kaia Health, a startup providing app-based programs for musculoskeletal conditions and COPD, recently raised $75 million in funding. As competitors look to round out their platforms with other services, Kaia is looking to strike partnerships with clinicians.

Implandata Ophthalmic Products, a digital health company, has received Breakthrough Device Designation (BDD) from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Eyemate system for digitally enabled remote patient monitoring and management of glaucoma.

One of the most important topics in the health sector is disease management. This issue is of great importance for patients to have a more effective treatment process and to reduce the workload in hospitals.

Kry is one of Europe’s largest providers of online doctor appointments. The company operates under the name Kry in Sweden, Norway and Germany and as a separate brand called Livi in the U.K. and France. It also expanded to the U.S. last year with the launch of a free video consultation platform called Livi Connect, though Schildt said it’s primarily focused on Europe.

Unlike other industries, the healthcare industry runs based on complex scientific and governmental regulations. While these regulations may vary in digital healthcare solutions, they still present obstacles from expanding digital health applications. Giving this nature of the industry, the last thing you need is to build a digital health solution that no one wants to use, which leads us to the digital health design and its importance as the user interface between the patient and the science (i.e. treatment, diagnosis and monitoring).

MyAsthma, which was developed with UK agency The Earthworks, can track medicine usage and asthma attacks, and use location, weather and air quality data to learn what trigger’s a patient’s asthma. An industry first, GSK’s app is the first from pharma has been approved as a Class 1 medical device and CE marked.

Companies wanting to be better connected with physicians to improve healthcare will need to use technology and digital approaches that provide advantages in diagnostics, treatment, and monitoring. It is also critical to help empower patients, as they are more active in their ongoing monitoring of disease and seeking new ways to engage within the healthcare system.Those companies seeking to be patient centric must connect, educate and empower patients through ongoing dialogue and direct to consumer attitude and capabilities.

The drugmaker struck a collaboration agreement with Mass General to use its platform for heart failure and asthma management. The health system plans to launch two pilots of the digital health platform. 

Wellness was already gaining momentum before the pandemic, and 2020 has only brought it into sharper focus. Drastic changes to how we live and work, the constant threat of infection, and economic uncertainty have put the spotlight on how individuals can maintain and improve all aspects of their well-being.

Today a patient's ZIP code can say a lot about their life expectancy and health outcomes. In the U.S. especially, healthcare costs are high, leaving some without access to care. This has left innovators to look to digital as a way to help in scaling care and lowering costs. Big tech especially is jumping into the healthcare game.

The DiGA Fast Track has brought the German market to the attention of foreign media, digital service providers, and healthcare investors alike. Germany’s large health system has long been attractive for investment, yet rigid bureaucracy prevented significant growth. DiGA presents, finally, an opportunity for digital innovation. Yet, this approval can only be one small part of the go-to-market strategy for digital vendors. Companies must balance major stakeholders and keep four challenge areas when seeking to bring their products and services to Germany.

– Medchart, a Dallas-based cloud-based platform powering patient-authorized information for businesses, researchers, and consumer services announced it has raised $17M in seed and Series A funding led by Crosslink Capital and Golden Ventures, with additional funds from Vast Ventures, Union Ventures, iGan Partners, Stanford Law School, and hip hop icon Nas, an original backer.

Unlike other companies with app-based coaching programs for managing diabetes, such as Livongo and Omada, Virta’s is based on restricting carbohydrates. Users are sent equipment, such as a connected scale, blood glucose and ketone testing strips, and enter their weight and blood sugar data.

Insurer Cigna plans to cover mental health startup Ginger’s coaching services as a covered benefit. Investors are pouring more funds into mental health startups as they companies and insurers alike look for more ways to meet people’s care needs during a challenging year.

As awareness grows around GI conditions, startup Oshi Health is building a platform to connect people to teams of clinicians and health coaches to better manage their symptoms. Judges picked the startup as the health services winner for MedCity INVEST’s Pitch Perfect contest. 

CVS Health announced the formation of CVS Health Ventures, a $100M corporate venture capital fund that will focus on companies with the potential for technology-enabled innovation and disruption in digital health care that are anchored in CVS Health’s core strategy.

Protecting the health, well-being and safety of healthcare practitioners and first responders is paramount — and will accelerate adoption of Digital Patient Engagement (DPE), enabled by Virtual Healthcare Delivery (VHD) solutions (also known as “Hospital at Home.)”

The French healthtech startup has doubled its members over the past 12 months — it now has 155k members, covers 9.4k companies and is aiming to have 1m members by 2023. It made €100m in annual revenue last year and saw less than 1% of its members churn. It has no meetings, transparent salaries and publishes its letters to shareholders online. And it’s now a unicorn.

Nabla s’est fixé comme objectifs de permettre une personnalisation du parcours de santé, et d’assurer la continuité des soins dans une approche pluridisciplinaire. L’équipe est aussi composée de médecins partenaires, généralistes, nutritionnistes ou spécialistes de gynécologie. "Nous sommes convaincus que la relation médecin-patiente peut être améliorée par le machine learning", raconte Delphine Groll. Le lien avec les professionnels est d’ailleurs son principal atout dans un secteur très concurrentiel et fragmenté, trusté pour l’instant par les applications de suivi du cycle menstruel Clue et Flow.

The $52B clinical trials market needs a makeover. Startups and big tech are actively developing clinical trial solutions, from IoT for remote monitoring, to machine learning for electronic health record (EHR) processing, to AI-based cybersecurity for data protection.