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The medical teams propping up the GLP-1 telehealth growth
It’s comparatively easy to go surfing and get a prescription for a GLP-1 treatment for diabetes or weight problems because of dozens of firms which have stepped in to fill demand for the possibly life-changing remedies. Behind the scenes, just some networks of clinicians are writing prescriptions for numerous web sites, STAT’s Katie Palmer reviews. A number of the websites don’t disclose that they don’t make use of the clinicians that sufferers see in visits that always resemble a industrial transaction as a lot as they do well being care. Consultants mentioned the profitable preparations elevate numerous considerations.
“It is a humongous crimson flag, and really scary to me,” weight problems doctor Scott Kahan instructed Katie. “While you set it up on this situation, the incentives are so misaligned that I can’t think about it will not be rife with abuse and profit-driven prescribing quite than medical prescribing.” Learn Katie’s complete particular report right here
Insurers used tech to disclaim claims, investigation finds
UnitedHealth Group, Humanaand CVS Well being more and more refused to pay for rehabilitative look after seniors after adopting applied sciences to assist their selections, a Senate investigation discovered. As of 2022, the insurers denied roughly 1 / 4 of all requests for post-acute care at nursing properties and different amenities.
The report, performed by the U.S. Senate Everlasting Subcommittee on Investigationsextensively cites STAT’s collection final yr that investigated using algorithms and synthetic intelligence inside Medicare Benefit plans. The collection targeted on how UnitedHealth and its subsidiary NaviHealth have been utilizing unregulated algorithms to foretell when somebody might be reduce off from rehab care. STAT’s investigation revealed, for instance, how UnitedHealth pushed workers to abide by the algorithm’s predictions, even when sufferers might barely stroll and weren’t able to go house.
The report discovered that the uptick in denials coincided with the elevated use of algorithmic instruments, together with one from NaviHealth. It additionally discovered that selections to make use of — or not use — explicit applied sciences have been tightly correlated with projected impacts on the well being insurers’ earnings. Learn extra right here
Contained in the downfall of a most cancers targeted startup
Earlier this yr, Blue Word Therapeutics CEO Geoff Eich shut down the corporate after failing to persuade the Meals and Drug Administration that its digital therapy for cancer-related misery could be helpful to sufferers. In a collection of candid interviews, Eich detailed the corporate’s downfall.
The story underscores the regulatory challenges confronted by digital therapeutics builders which are sometimes guided to rigorous scientific trial designs. In Blue Word’s case, its therapy confirmed solely a modest enchancment in comparison with a “sham” management. In the end, the FDA was most involved in drop out charges within the research and the way it launched uncertainty to the outcomes.
With no clearance, Eich was unable to persuade traders to fund one other trial.
“All I can say is we gave it every little thing we presumably had by way of completely different alternatives, even grants, to get cash for research,” he instructed me. “However in the long run, it was a query of there simply wasn’t the need, time, or cash.”
Research: How do early-warning algorithms stack up?
Yale‘s well being system evaluated the statistical efficiency of scores produced by algorithms meant to warn of a affected person’s deteriorating situation. The outcomes of the undertaking, which have been printed in JAMA Community Open, reveal {that a} software developed by digital well being data large Epic Methods carried out the worst. That’s regarding as a result of well being programs usually default to instruments supplied by present distributors.
The well being system examined the instruments by feeding them data from 360,000 sufferers from seven hospitals. As Katie reviews, Yale’s research reveals how troublesome it’s for well being programs to check the efficiency of predictive algorithms. Learn extra right here
Business information
Oshi Well beinga digital supplier of digestive care, raised a $60 million Sequence C spherical led by OAK HC/FT with participation from Bessemer Enterprise Companions, Flare Capital Companions, Frist Cressey VenturesCVS Well being Venturesand Takeda Digital Ventures.
Oracle Well being launched a brand new claims processing providing. The transfer comes within the wake of the Change Healthcare ransomware catastrophe. Possibly Oracle sees a gap?
Axena Well beingdeveloper of a therapy gadget for pelvic flooring problems, together with urinary incontinence, introduced Randy Pritchard as its new CEO. Most not too long ago, Pritchard was CEO of diagnostics firm Pillar Biosciences.
Parakeet Well beingwhich is growing a generative AI voice platform, introduced $3 million in funding from Canvas Ventures
The American Coronary heart Affiliation introduced a $1 million funding into and partnership with MDisrupt, an professional market for well being tech and life sciences firms.
What we’re studying
Buoyed by scientific success, Onward Medical charts way forward for neurostimulation, STAT
Is melancholy contagious? The science is unsure, UnDark
Inside UnitedHealth’s technique to strain physicians: $10,000 bonuses and a physician leaderboard, STAT
