New digital platforms finally put consumers first

Who hasn’t been frustrated by medical billing, long hospital stays, or impersonal care models? The paradox consumers face is that healthcare companies don’t compete on experience—but we need the care they supply.

Last week we saw digital health action set to test this status quo, with business models that put consumers first in the spotlight. Cedar announced the acquisition of OODA Health in order to become a digital payments solution addressing unsatisfactory consumer billing from both sides of the transaction. Mayo Clinic and Kaiser Permanente made strategic and financial commitments to make Medically Home’s “connected hospital at home” a new standard of care. Jasper Health unveiled a star-studded team and funding round with aspirations to evolve cancer care navigation’s focus from finding care sites, to helping patients and caregivers navigate the full experience. If these and other innovators can change the rules of the game, we’re hopeful for vastly different competitive dynamics that actually benefit healthcare consumers.

Headlines

100+ Digital Health CEOs on Navigating Growth, Change, And Challenges
Reflections from Rock Health’s 2021 Digital Health CEO Summit Rock Health | (Tweet)

Telehealth Companies Fuel Lobbying Frenzy To Protect COVID Boom
Lobbyists race to push Congress into action before pandemic-enacted flexibilities expire STAT | (Tweet)

BARDA Partners With Software Developers To Help Triage COVID-19 Patients
Startups AgileMD and PeraHealth to work with HHS division on COVID risk assessment Fierce BioTech | (Tweet)

How MDMA And Psilocybin Became Hot Investments
Reframing psychedelics as “the hottest new therapeutics since Prozac” The New York Times | (Tweet)

Clinical Trial Platform Science 37 To Enter SPAC
Another SPAC gets its wings MobiHealthNews | (Tweet)

Recent Funding