2024 hits the ground running
Digital health’s new year kicked off with two major conferences last week—J.P. Morgan’s Healthcare Conference in San Francisco and CES in Las Vegas. Conversations at both events focused on access, profitability, expansion, and new projects/products/partnerships, putting some pep in digital health’s step on the heels of 2023.
AI and obesity care, topics rising on the innovation curve, were dominant themes. Mayo Clinic, Option Care, AbbVie, and Amgen all announced new AI partnerships, while Innovaccer joined the AI scribe race. With GLP-1 production ramping up and new obesity drugs in development, the pressure is mounting for improved digital infrastructure to help patients access treatments, secure insurance coverage, and manage side effects. Interest also heated up on the exit front. Several healthcare CEOs confirmed they were open to acquisitions (with one already making moves), and rumors of 2024 IPOs swirled. Meanwhile, publicly-traded players Oscar and GoodRx emphasized revenue management. Looks like 2024’s possibilities of consolidation and public market recalibration are already in motion.
Headlines
Google AI Developing A Chatbot For Diagnostic Interviewing
AMIE is being designed for patient intake and medical reasoning Nature
Backed By Mayo Clinic And Microsoft, A Nonprofit Forms To Test AI Tools
Academic medical centers and tech companies will set up a network of labs to test and certify AI solutions STAT
Headspace Begins Rolling Out All-In-One Mental Health Offering Following 2021 Ginger Merger
Enterprise users will have integrated content, talk therapy, psychiatry, and support services Fast Company
Workplace Wellness Programs Have Little Benefit, Study Finds
Survey indicates programs have limited impact on wellbeing The New York Times
New Research Links Hospital-at-Home Care To Positive Patient Outcomes
Programs associated with low mortality, nursing facility use, and readmission rates mHealth Intelligence
Patients’ Social Needs Often Get Lost In Health Records. Generative AI Could Help
LLMs outperformed providers in flagging social determinants of health in EHRs STAT
Recent Funding
- DecisionRx, a precision dosing and medication management solution, picks up $100M
- Artisight inks $42M for its AI-driven hospital infrastructure and optimization solutions
- Suicide care and mental health teletherapy provider Vita Health raises $22.5M
- Neocis lands $20M for its robot-assisted surgical tools and procedure management software
- DigitalOwl nabs $12M for its AI-powered medical records review and summarization tool
- Precision neurology startup Rune Labs plucks $12M for its app to detect Parkinson’s disease
- Parallel Learning, a teletherapy provider for children with special needs, collects $6.1M
- XRHealth grabs $6M for its VR-based neurological and mental health therapeutics
- Peerlogic snags $5.65M to develop its scheduling and analytics software for dental practices
- Health in Her HUE raises $3M to connect women of color with culturally competent virtual care
- Virtual ADHD coaching and symptom management solution Shimmer seeds $2.2M