Vaccine mandates and unequal outcomes; JP Morgan & Vera Whole Health; Care navigation startups

Invent Health with Dr. Archana Dubey and Bambi Francisco Roizen; Episode 14

The Invent Health weekly podcast with Dr. Archana Dubey, Chief Medical Officer at HP, and Bambi Francisco Roizen, Founder of Vator, is the only weekly podcast that breaks down the latest digital health news of the week and what it means for patients, providers and payers (or who's paying). Plus a deep dive on a particular topic to help listeners understand how innovation is changing the healthcare paradigm.  

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In this week’s episode, the two analyze JP Morgan's $50 million investment in Vera Whole Health, which started as a Seattle fitness studio for women in 2008, but has become an onsite or near-site clinic. JP Morgan is its first major self-insured employer. This follows JP Morgan launching Morgan Health in May 2021 after Haven - Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway fell apart. For Vera, it comes right after it was valued at $400 million. Vera's model is value-based payment and gets paid on a per-engaged member per month vs per eligible member per month. JP Morgan brings back mask mandates. But they're not alone. Here's a list of companies requiring masks. Here's ones, like Google, Walmart, Tyson Foods, requiring proof of COVID vaccinations for some or all their workers while FB and Google are requiring vaccine mandates for those returning to in-person work. But they can also work from home if they don't want to get vaccinated. Also business owners can now list vaccination requirements at Yelp.  Exo making ultrasounds cheaper, raising $220 million. This falls into the trend of smaller and smaller medical equipment that can be accessed closer to the consumer. This week's deep dive is: Care navigation providers, like Transcarent. How are they and their business models different?