Milind Parate

Here's another fundraising roundup spotted in the healthcare wilds 👀 🍃 ✅ Sword Health raised $130M (new valuation: $3B). ✅ Better Health raised $14M to deploy expanded payer partnerships. ✅ Alzheon, Inc. | Preserving Future Memories raised $100M Series E to advance development & commercialization of its Alzheimer’s treatment. ✅ CinRx Pharma raised $73M to continue its ‘Hub and Spoke’ model of startup formation. ✅ Eko Health raised $41M to scale AI-driven heart and lung disease detection. ✅ Anterior (formerly Co:Helm) secured a $20M Series A to unlock admin efficiencies for healthcare payers. ✅ SamaCare raised a $17M Series B to scale specialty drug prior authorization platform. ✅ Plenful secured a $17M Series A to streamline pharmacy operations with AI-powered workflow automation. ✅ Grayce raised a $10.4M Series A led by Maveron amid a caregiving crisis. ✅ Stitch Employment Services Inc PEO raised $8.75M in seed to support independent medical practices. ✅ Posterity Health secured $6M to fund expansion and technology acceleration. ✅ Sware raised $6M to accelerate life sciences innovation by automating FDA-mandated software validation. ✅ Keragon raised $3M, as announced in @Conno Christou’s LinkedIn post. As always, if I missed you, let me know! Each week I'm spotlighting an innovative healthcare startup. I just ask for a bit more transparency. All submissions are confidential; submit yours here 👇 https://lnkd.in/gF4DrAvJ Looking for more fundraising roundups, alongside healthcare industry news and analysis? Subscribe to Hospitalogy, my 2x/week newsletter. Join 33K+ other investors, executives, and healthcare professionals: https://lnkd.in/g-nfRqW6

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One key reason why healthcare technologies like AI, telemedicine, and software haven't structurally lowered costs or broadened access for the entire system after decades of experimentation (excluding pure financial engineering of payer contracts) is the limited reimagining of care delivery itself, with asynchronous telemedicine as a notable exception. In the same way that digitizing physical paper failed to exploit the capabilities of a new computing medium for word processing, hosting physician-patient conversations over video does not transform the actual delivery of care. In telemedicine, many of the inputs (e.g., clinician time) and therefore cost structures of in-person care persist, which is why we often see fee-for-service telemedicine companies struggle to achieve economies of scale (i.e., growing revenues non-linearly while growing costs linearly). Until we deconstruct the components of a medical appointment – from intake and triage, to chart review, history gathering, physical examination, diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up – we will continue to be underwhelmed by the disconnect between the transformative potential of these technologies and real-world patient/system impact. I’m optimistic that the emergence of reliable and performant medical AI agents will urge us to perform this deconstruction and redesign the fundamental building blocks of a “medical appointment.”

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Imagine swallowing the competition whole. That's what many players in tech do via roll-up strategies, gobbling up smaller firms to deliver richer solutions and amass greater market share. Where else are roll-up strategies common? // HEALTHCARE Picture being a patient at a medical practice that’s been part of a roll-up in Healthcare Services. It's an industry ripe for roll-ups due to its fragmented nature and potential for greater efficiency. // CONSUMER SERVICES Or let's say you needed your HVAC serviced, and notice your local repairman is now part of a bigger Consumer Services entity? Centralized management and scale economy turn these localized businesses into roll-up targets. // FINANCIAL SERVICES Think about your insurance agent or wealth management advisor. They're working in complex, highly regulated environments. In the Financial Services sector, roll-ups offer an effective way to consolidate expertise, streamline operations, and enhance customer offerings. // MANUFACTURING Now, imagine driving past factories under a new name — the result of Manufacturing and Industrial Services roll-ups. Bulk purchasing reduces costs, enhances production capabilities, and expands geographical footprints. // REAL ESTATE Lastly, envision your real estate brokerage firm. The industry sees roll-ups as a strategic move to increase market penetration, enhance service offerings, and hike up portfolio value. Roll-ups play a huge role in most industries, rather like a snowball rolling downhill, gaining momentum, and size. Are you seeing roll-ups in your sector or considering M&A?

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We're witnessing the next wave of leading companies being within healthcare services & being more "involved" than just writing good code. 🌊 I fundamentally believe it's equally important, understanding on the highest granularity, how healthcare is delivered at the core (in the clinics, hospitals & with doctors). A couple years ago there was a massive focus on digital health, this has shifted to healthcare services, experiencing exponential growth atm, due to the following. 📈 1. Operating within the very heterogenous market of healthcare (in particular primary care) requires to understand and interpret operational nuances (those closest to the problem/market will win) and solve for those very operational topics 🩸 2. Pain to innovate is highest amongst those delivering care, as there is no "continuing as before" (patients jump between services/providers based on availability, that's why digital health only takes off v slowly), doctors can't transition away but are "stuck" with their daily operational problems 😵‍💫 3. Willingness to pay is present, (see point 2.) and doctors can afford to pay for these services (shift from paying for "non-available" staff to software) and lastly it's the largest market (DACH €+550B primary care spend) with everyone being a user at one point, opening up multiple cross revenue streams 💸 4. No payor/insurance fights but a "simple" B2B customer (non of the DTx/reimbursement complexities) and a market with unparalleled retention rates (check CompuGroup revenues over the past 10 years, €1.2B in 2023) ⚔️ 5. Less regulation and increasing emphasis/relaxation on data usage (check Patient Data Protection Act or European Health Data Space) as well as enforced digitalisation throughout the upcoming years (every restaurant needs a modern POS, whilst doctors can still operate pen & paper...) ⚖️ Personally I am very bullish, that within the next 5 years, we'll see the N26/Revolut transformation happening in European healthcare - no flying cars - just better operations, services & experiences on top of existing core medical services. 💯 Thanks for the Eterno Health mention Thomas Hagemeijer - V cool overview! 🙌🏽

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Interesting to see that digital health funding is relatively stable. Only a couple of exits. I think we'll see more deals like DarioHealth's acquisition of Twill, since from a sales perspective, the narrower the solution, the more difficult it is to acquire customers. This difficulty has nothing to do with the quality of offerings, but with the data management and administrative complexity on the customer side.

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This is an interesting talk that challenges a basic assumption that more spending in healthcare leads to better outcomes. They defined health value by looking at mortality rates across 6 diaseases and healthcare spending per capital. Florida ranked 3rd and Vermont 46th. While healthcare spending was correlated with lower heart disease it was not correlated with opioid use disorder. This sheds light upon the fact that social determinants of health have a big impact on outcomes. #healthcare #healthspending

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Have y’all ever watched someone pour water in a cup so fast that it overflows? That’s where I think we are in US #healthcare right now, and according to an article by Yahoo Finance, I’m spot on: US Healthcare spending rose to $4.8 Trillion in 2023, an estimated 17.6% of US GDP. Now I’ve worked in roles across #publichealth, #healthcare and #pharma, but admittedy never quite understood the economic jargon of comparing US healthcare spending to gross domestic product (GDP). So here’s my attempt at explaining this in plain language. ✨ GDP is the total value of all goods produced in a country during a time period; it’s a measure of the size and health of an economy. ✨ Healthcare spending refers to all money spent on healthcare services and products in a country— i.e- hospitals, doctors, medications, insurance… ✨ Why do we compare the two? When we compare healthcare spending to GDP it helps us understand how much of our economic resources are being used for health related expenses. ✨What does this headline mean? U.S. healthcare spending grew faster than the economy *overall* last year—and is expected to do so through 2032. Think of it like this: if we pour water in a cup too quickly, it will overflow. This is like healthcare costs rising faster than the economy can sustain. ✨What’s driving the increase in cost? 1) Insurance coverage has hit historic highs, 2) Medicare is projected to have the highest spending growth, 3) Hospital spending is soaring… Here are a few additional thoughts I had… 💡 How will the rapid uptake of #AI in healthcare, impact these projections? 💡 I wonder how projected healthcare workforce shortages will impact this? 💡*This* is what we mean when we say everyone should care about #healthequity, because inequities are costing all of us. What do y’all think about future drivers of cost or solutions? Drop me a line in the comments! #healthcareonlinkedin

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Still trying to make sense of Walmart pulling back from healthcare delivery? 3 quick thoughts: 🏥 Healthcare delivery is hard, even for companies where it's a primary focus. Navigating reimbursement and competition is extremely challenging. 💸 The patient may be a customer, but they are never the payer. 📊 No matter a company's stature, cooperation and reimbursement from health plans—both nationally and locally—are still critical for building profitable businesses. For a deeper dive, check out our full analysis here: https://lnkd.in/eXTeugKD

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Google. Amazon. Apple. Salesforce. Microsoft. The most iconic and successful companies in the world leverage platform business strategy and network effects to create enormous shareholder value. The opportunities for platform businesses in healthcare are even bigger, and can deliver massive value to patients, providers, and the system as well. Yet, less than 15% of digital health investment goes into platform companies. With healthcare platforms representing a combined $1 trillion TAM, there is a massive missed opportunity for investors. Check out our new Digital Health Investor Report to access new data and research that sheds light on the largest, most attractive platform markets and opportunities in healthcare. The report also includes proven frameworks and best practices to help investors evaluate the strength and value of a prospective platform companies’ network effects. Appreciate the wise words from top digital health platform investors, including Julie Yoo at a16z Bio + Health, Scott Barclay at Insight Partners, Marta G. Zanchi at Nina Capital, and Carl Bradford Byers 🚑 at F-Prime Capital. #networkeffects #platformeconomy #platformbusinessstrategy #healthcare #healthcareplatforms

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"Facing cancer is challenging enough without the added burden of transportation barriers. Many patients, particularly those already grappling with healthcare inequities, find themselves navigating a maze of logistics just to access essential treatments. Consider the sheer scale of rides provided annually by #Uber and #Lyft—over 10 BILLION. Imagine if these companies took a stand to support cancer patients by offering free transportation to and from their medical appointments. Let's crunch the numbers: just 1/1,000th of 1% of their annual rides—equivalent to 100,000 rides—could make a monumental impact. That breaks down to nearly 275 rides per day, offering vital assistance to those facing health challenges and mobility limitations. As someone with a background in corporate dynamics, I understand the importance of the bottom line. Offering this support wouldn't just be a philanthropic gesture—it could also be a tax-deductible investment in the well-being of communities. Together, we can ensure that access to healthcare isn't determined by transportation hurdles. BUT... There is a lot to be said for doing the right thing. Let's chat Uber and Lyft and see how we can make this a reality and you a true hero to those needing this type of support. Still too much? How about 1/10,000th of 1%? Let's not look for excuses why we can't and just find ways to make this happen.

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Investing in companies that fill needs for health systems is a growth opportunity for both delivery organizations and start ups. Some systems are jumping in on their own, while others are partnering with like minded systems or with established VC firms. While this is a relatively new trend for systems, health plans have been making similar bets for many years. The benefits of becoming a health system portfolio company can be significant. Data, access to beta populations and real world coaching can be extremely beneficial. Start ups get mentoring and systems have to ability to leverage outside resources to solve relevant business problems. I predict a booming business!

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Here’s your recap of last week’s health IT news 🗞️ 👇 🤖 AI Products • Emergency Services, Inc. + Augmedix Go ED: The emergency medicine group adopted the new ED-specific AI ambient scribe solution.    • Color + OpenAI: The cancer care tech company partnered with the GenAI giant to build a AI clinical decision support copilot.    • AKASA Medical Coding: The AI RCM vendor known for its AI prior auth tool AKASA Authorization Advisor released a new GenAI medical coding solution.    • Humata Health: The AI prior auth for providers vendor closed a $25M funding round led by healthcare org-backed funds The Blue Venture Fund and LRVHealth.    • Wellsheet + Concord Hospital Health System: The AI-enabled Smart EHR UI solution announced a client-reported 16.3% reduction in length of stay and 40% decrease in time spent in the EHR via its partnership with Concord Health, as well as the release of its new LLM-generated handoff summary feature. 🍎 VBC • BSIM Healthcare Services + Innovaccer: The healthcare provider—embarking on its first VBC contract—adopted the pop health data platform for analytics. 🩼 Durable Medical Equipment • Parachute Health: The DME e-prescribing and ordering solution released an update that integrates prior authorization. ⚕️Clinical Staffing • Matchwell + Indiana Hospital Association: The clinical staffing service partnered with the hospital member org to create the first state-wide resource pool for temp staffing. 🧑‍💻 Virtual and At-Home Care • Deaconess Health System + KeyCare: The Indiana-based health system adopted the Epic-based virtual care provider for around-the-clock virtual urgent care.    • UC Davis Health + Current Health: The health system launched a new RPM program for high blood pressure in partnership with Best Buy Health’s care-at-home platform. 🧠 Food for Thought: We came across a couple of good resources this past week on the current state of healthcare data information exchange: • This article in Health Affairs from Deven McGraw and Tina Grande provides a comprehensive overview of some of the patient health data abuses we've seen come to light in recent months, as well as a number of policy recommendations to improve the health information exchange landscape for all participants. https://lnkd.in/e_GEQ-JJ  (h/t Alya Sulaiman)    • This episode of Health Gorilla's InteropTalk gives a helpful update on the current state of affairs, with a particular focus on the state of trust across the health data exchange community and how the definition of "Treatment" may evolve. https://lnkd.in/e96AJG-5 (h/t Brendan Keeler) --- Reminder: you can sign up for the Elion Briefing to get the latest healthcare tech news delivered to your inbox each week 📬 👉 https://lnkd.in/e2UJ3ckP

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Should you sell your practice to a VC-Backed MSO Startup? tldr: - new VC-backed startups are forming MSOs to roll up independent practices - The pitch is physicians receive early liquidity from the roll up and are granted ESOP shares that can be used for retirement - Problem is the use of ESOPs with independent practices is not a new concept and has been used with large group practices since the 70's - ESOPs do not grant full ownership and in order for the shares to be valuable for retirement, the practice needs to run the same if not better post roll up - With VC-backed startups being primarily operated by non-physicians with zero clinical or medical practice experience, the likelihood of this happening is extremely low making the entire concept high risk However, there is a viable path for continued ownership + liquidity for independent practices. Check out the article to learn more. ⤵ https://lnkd.in/gmGvTYwP

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Super excited for this launch ✨ There's been some wonderful growth over the last few years in the remote care and virtual health spaces, but the increase in disparate solutions has also created a ton of fragmented workflows for clinicians, forcing them to switch between various point solutions to service a patient. We've seen it even with our own web app and provider-facing tools — clinicians are often spending more time trying just to find the right data on a patient than actually analyzing it and taking action. We're launching Connect to embed our insights on medication adherence directly into other web and care platforms to reduce the administrative time spent jumping between solutions to find different data points and increase the time clinicians are spending taking action and addressing patient needs. If you're a care platform of any sort and/or looking to provide your patients with a medication adherence support tool, we'd love to assist :) #virtualcare #medicationadherence #rtm

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There’s a category we believe is getting too little attention when it comes to AI in healthcare: AI Clinical Documentation Integrity (CDI) While AI ambient scribes and autonomous medical coding solutions have gotten most of the headlines, we’d argue AI CDI is equally impactful when it comes to quality care and accurate billing. For those not familiar, CDI ensures that clinical documentation accurately reflects the patient’s medical condition and the provided care. Historically, CDI was a manual slog, with dedicated CDI specialists, nurses, and physicians painstakingly reviewing patient charts to ensure documentation supported the care delivered. Today, AI is reshaping this landscape. While it’s still early days, we’re seeing three primary approaches to applying AI when it comes to CDI: 1️⃣ CDI + ambient scribing—an AI ambient scribe and AI CDI assistant operate simultaneously, generating comprehensive notes and surfacing codes for physicians to review at the point of care. (Example: Ambience Healthcare’s AutoCDI) 2️⃣ CDI via real-time diagnosis support—diagnoses are suggested at the point of care based on clinical data in the EHR, with auto-generated documentation and audit trails. (Example: Regard) 3️⃣ CDI via an AI-driven post-coding / pre-billing review—the entire patient record is ingested and analyzed against what is coded, surfacing suggestions for revenue and quality opportunities. (Example: SmarterDx) To date, AI in healthcare has focused primarily on administrative use cases. With the increasing adoption of AI CDI solutions, we’re now taking a step closer to clinical workflows. As clinicians get used to AI-suggested diagnoses in the CDI context, it will be interesting to see if this increases their comfort with AI playing a role in clinical care. Here's our working list of AI CDI vendors. Anyone else we should add? • Ambience Healthcare • Brellium • Iodine Software • Regard • Semantic Health • SmarterDx   

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Walmart Exits Healthcare Market: RPM Steps Up to Fill the Gap... Walmart's departure from the healthcare market, including its virtual health care services, will leave a void in care services for underserved communities. While hospitals and primary care providers (PCPs) remain the backbone of our healthcare ecosystem, their resilience is rooted in the trust relationships they've built with patients. This trust is a cornerstone of effective care, and RPM can help hospitals and PCPs extend their reach. RPM uses digital technologies to monitor patients' vital signs, health data, and other relevant information remotely, enabling healthcare providers to deliver timely interventions and preventive care. By leveraging RPM, we can: - Increase access to care for underserved communities - Detect health issues early, preventing complications - Deliver personalized care plans - Reduce healthcare costs - Empower patients to take a more active role in their healthcare As we move forward, RPM can help address the disparities in healthcare access and ensure that everyone has access to quality care, regardless of their zip code or background. Let's harness the power of RPM to create a more equitable and accessible healthcare ecosystem! #RemotePatientMonitoring #Telehealth #DigitalHealth #HealthcareAccess https://lnkd.in/eD7CcaEm

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My colleagues, James R. Bush, Adarsh Gosu and I were honored to lead an Executive Roundtable at the #BeckersAnnualMeeting last month. Leaders discussed the capabilities of Generative AI in health care, emphasizing the trust, governance, data modernization, and workforce training. Some highlights included: ☑ Establishing effective governance is crucial for successful AI implementation. ☑ The importance of change management can’t be overlooked. ☑ Building consumer trust and engagement is essential in AI adoption. ☑ Workforce upskilling is necessary for AI fluency and successful implementation. ☑ Designing AI solutions with scalability in mind is a must. A special thanks to Becker's Healthcare for the opportunity! Read a recap of our conversations on Beckers Hospital Review. https://lnkd.in/gEVWxwzq Want to learn more about Deloitte guidance for the potential of #AI in healthcare? We have a report with critical insights about implementation and governance. https://lnkd.in/gXE_HVG2 Bill Fera, Tina Wheeler, Adarsh Gosu, Dan Kinsella, Anne Phelps #AIinHealthCare #GenAI #FutureofHealth #Deloitte #hospitals #HealthIT *Information posted here is a personal opinion and is not a substitute for medical advice. Shared publications contain general information only and Deloitte is not, by means of this publication, rendering accounting, business, financial, investment, legal, tax, or other professional advice or services.

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Do you ever wonder why health technology and therapy consumers make the decisions they do? I'm eager to hear how Roundpeg Consulting, LLC has leveraged MRI-Simmons' consumer insights to provide value to organizations and leaders across various sectors of healthcare. #Healthcare #B2C #Leaders #Consumer #HealthTechnology

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Great article about consumer led strategy in healthcare by Jenny Cordina, Jess Buchter and Jillian Eckroate from McKinsey & Company. -"Personalizing both outreach and follow-up can present additional opportunities" -"up to 70 percent [of consumers] are open to changing [provider] if the alternative offers meaningful differentiation" -Creating meaningful differentiation by "providing consumers with a single source of truth about projected costs before they receive care" And yes, what is good for the consumer is good for provider's profits. "In the near term—beyond benefits to consumer experience and care—developing a distinctive consumer experience could translate to financial gains through increased acquisition, retention, and share of engagement; reduced administrative costs; and improved Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) and Medicare Advantage Star ratings" Cedar

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