Since launching in 2010, HealthTap has been on a mission to bring the proverbial “house call” back to healthcare — virtually speaking, of course. With more than 80 percent of people turning to online resources (and to Dr. Google) for health-related information — from insurance to basic diagnostics — HealthTap set out to give people a better alternative to using Google or WebMD for their health… → Read More
The mobile health market is growing like a weed these days. According to mHealthWatch and eHealth Initiative, there are 31,000 health and medical-related apps on the market today. In fact, over the last year, the number of health apps jumped 120 percent, and hundreds of apps now hit stores every month. Yet, in spite of this exponential growth, the mobile health space is still in its “Wild West”… → Read More
Services like HealthTap have proliferated over the last year as a way to let anyone with questions about their health connect with real, licensed physicians online and avoid the pain of waiting in line at the doctor’s office. While HealthTap and others are building up their health information databases to let people quickly find answers to a variety of health questions, the demand for personalized… → Read More
Y Combinator-backed startup CrowdMed hopes to use the wisdom of the crowds to speed up and lower the cost of diagnosing rare medical conditions. By crowdsourcing medical data and applying some patented predictive technology, the company believes it can help users identify illnesses which had otherwise baffled medical professionals. → Read More
According to a report published by the Senate Subcommittee on Primary Health and Aging last year, more than 130 million Americans are living without dental insurance. That means more Americans have smartphones than dental coverage. (And they say the UK has bad teeth!) Yes, while robotics takes quantum leaps, millions of Americans forgo dentist visits each day because they don’t have insurance, or… → Read More
Unless you’re reading this while using an inhaler, this fact may surprise you: According to the CDC, 26 million Americans currently have the chronic respiratory disease we know as asthma. Not only that, but the CDC tells us that the disease costs the U.S. $3,300 per person annually, and medical expenses associated with asthma have increased to about $56 billion (thanks to hospitalizations… → Read More
Zeel launched in early 2012 to bring the Zocdoc model to alternative healthcare providers. In other words, just as Zocdoc makes it easy to search for doctors based on specialty, proximity and insurance coverage and book appointments directly, Zeel aimed to do the same for the other half of the market: From massage therapists and personal trainers to nutritionists and acupuncturists. → Read More
Once unfathomably expensive, thanks to scientific and technological advances, the cost of genome sequencing for your average Joe is dropping fast on its way to a big, historical benchmark: The $1,000 genome. We’re not quite there, but we’re getting close. This is exciting for a host of reasons, but particularly because it has the chance to usher in an era of personalized medicine, in which it will… → Read More
Back in December 2011, Omada Health grabbed $800K in seed funding from a long list of notable investors, including NEA, Aberdare, Kapor Capital, TriplePoint Ventures and Esther Dyson. After a year of testing, the funding enabled the startup to launch Prevent, its flagship product and the “first-ever online diabetes prevention program for the general public,” Omada Health founder Sean Duffy said at… → Read More
When you have a health question, what do you do? Likelihood is that you either search Google for the answer, WebMD, try to call your doctor, or set up an appointment. For most people, the latter two options would be preferable, because, after all, you’re more likely to trust a human being than Dr. Robot or some crowdsourced health resource. → Read More
Back in November, Basis officially took on Jawbone, Nike and Fitbit, releasing its long-awaited wrist-based mobile health tracker. Capitalizing on the popularity of the Quantified Self Movement, the $200 sensor-happy Basis band its accompanying web dashboard allow novices and fitness enthusiasts alike to easily track their activity, skin temperature, heart rate, calories burned, sleep patterns and… → Read More
With big data playing an increasingly critical role in healthcare and with the pervasiveness of archaic infrastructure and lack of data portability in health systems and hospitals, data warehousing startup Health Catalyst sees a big opportunity to help fix this problem. And, at least for now, investors appear eager to buy in. In January, the startup raised a whopping $33 million in series B… → Read More
For small businesses, buying and managing health insurance is a “pain in the buns,” to quote my new favorite ad. Not only are its complicated terms, lack of transparency, slow quoting and on-boarding process and paper trail a pain in your buns, but health insurance can be a massive pain in your wallet, to boot. Hidden costs are everywhere.
Y Combinator-backed SimplyInsured is launching today… → Read More
With nearly $70 million raised since its inception in 2005, Practice Fusion has become the frontrunner in the multi-horse race to become the go-to electronic health record platform. When Josh spoke to the startup back in June, it had just closed a $34 million series C financing round, which put its valuation close to $500 million and put it on the path to an eventual IPO. → Read More
In August 2011, Intersect won approval from the FDA for Propel, which, simply put, is a stent that doctors implant in the sinuses after surgery to help keep them open. The cool part is that, over time, the stent absorbs into the patient’s body post-surgery (so that follow-up surgery isn’t required), slowly releasing a steroid to help control local inflammation, according to Medgadget. In the fall… → Read More
After five months of testing, iterating, spit balling and pavement pounding, today Rock Health’s fourth class of HealthTech startups took the stage at Demo Day to pitch their fledgling businesses to investors. More than anything, these fourteen startups confirmed that digital health is not just alive and well, but beginning to gain some real traction. (More on that here.)
Like education, the… → Read More
Medikly, a startup that aims to help pharmaceutical companies reach and better understand physicians, announced today that it has raised $1.2 million in series A financing from Easton Capital.
A recent graduate of the Blueprint Health accelerator in New York City, Medikly has developed an enterprise-grade platform that provides Big Pharma with a multi-channel marketing solution, combining… → Read More
For startups and small businesses, providing and managing benefits can be a huge headache. In the early stages, this responsibility generally falls into the hands of founders, who have to contact insurance brokers and manage the whole enrollment process themselves. It’s distracting and tedious, but it’s also a critical part of ensuring that employees are happy, healthy and productive.
After… → Read More
Founded in 2007, Linkwell Health partners with health plans, consumer brands that want to be health conscious, grocery chains and drugstores to offer everyday consumers discounts, coupons and content to help them make healthier choices. Today, the company announced that it has raised $11 million in series C financing for its consumer engagement platform. → Read More
Ringadoc has a pretty big vision: To be the “frontline of primary care,” to let anyone and everyone pay a flat fee to instantly talk to a real doctor at any hour of the day. In pursuit of perfecting on-demand medicine, the startup announced today that it has raised $1.2 million in seed financing, led by Founders Fund’s seed vehicle, FF Angel. The raise marks the close of the second half of its… → Read More
Back in August, we wrote about the launch of a startup non-profit organization called Watsi, which offers anyone and everyone the opportunity to fund “low-cost, high impact treatment” for those who lack access to necessary care. Again, considering the fact that there are more than one billion people who are unable to afford adequate medical services (or don’t have access to them), Watsi’s mission… → Read More
Founded in late 2011, 100Plus set out to tap into the growing popularity of the Quantified Self movement to create a personalized, mobile health prediction platform to help Average Joes like you and me stay active and get healthy. Like some of today’s better known activity and health trackers, like Fitbit, Jawbone’s Up and RunKeeper, 100Plus wants to leverage our ever-present mobile devices to… → Read More
Back in September, Glooko announced the release of a new version of its iOS app, a digital logbook which helps people with diabetes track their blood glucose levels from their smartphone. The new app brought support for six additional glucose meters, meaning that Glooko is now compatible with more than 17 different devices — a sign of the headway the startup has made in its march toward meter… → Read More
If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it one bajillion times. If you’re going to start a business accelerator, don’t clone Y Combinator or TechStars, find a niche. With the glut of new accelerators today, the most successful are building vertical-specific approaches that bring together seed capital with meaningful industry partnerships to create real business (and learning) opportunities for their… → Read More
General Electric built what is today a $219 billion multinational industrial behemoth by continuously investing in innovation, technology and computing. As the maker of airplane engines, trains, power plant turbines and medical equipment, GE’s business generally falls outside the virtual walls of the consumer Web. However, as the New York Times reports, GE has recently renewed its commitment to… → Read More
As CES 2013 gets underway, it finds the Quantified Self movement to be a far more crowded market than a year ago, but as Matt Burns pointed out recently, the market is still hungry for smarter devices and “plenty of room” remains for startups for startups to push the envelope with innovation and press beyond movement and weight.
With digital health data proliferating, wearable health-tracking… → Read More
Quantified Self enthusiasts are getting their fair share of excitement at CES this week. Basis first unveiled its intriguing health-tracking watch at the event last year, but after hiccups and lawsuits, the company finally launched its product on the market in November. At launch, however, the band looked great and the entire package was very promising. → Read More
Big news from the world of advancing health technology today, as athenahealth, the 15-year-old electronic health records giant, announced that it has acquired Epocrates, maker of popular mobile health apps for physicians. The deal is worth $293 million, and athenahealth has agreed to fork over $11.75 per share in cash — about 15 percent of the company’s current share price. → Read More
The holidays wreak havoc on our bodies, with their mandatory over-indulgence in food as well as family and reminiscences. As we reflect on the year past — its victories and losses — we also begin looking ahead to the next, and in big ways or small, making plans to keep our momentum going.
For many, this involves taking health more seriously, whether it’s losing a few pounds, training for that… → Read More
Earlier today, after nearly a year in development, Omada Health launched to bring diabetes prevention online in an effort to help fight obesity in the U.S. NatureBox wants to do its part, too, and is now announcing that it has closed $2 million in seed funding to accelerate its business and help anyone and everyone discover healthier eating options. → Read More
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