Digital health news, funding round up in the prior week; December 19, 2022

HistoSonics raised $100M; Memora Health and PeriGen partner; health spending reached $4.3T in 2021

Top Health News

• A Harris poll which asked respondents what data they would with a national database to prevent another public health emergency found that no type of data received 50% of saying they'd share it for the greater good, with 12% saying they'd share no data at all. The largest percentage said they'd give up vital signs and health stats, as well as personal information, with 47%; that was followed by health records, with 43% willing to share them, and nutrition and lifestyle information, with 41%. The data people seem to be more protective of are data from wearables and fitness devices, as well as genetic data, with 32% and 28% saying they'd share these, respectively.
• A survey from non-profit organization Trusted Future, which included 2,414 Americans, found that 58% rated the fact that there a lot of digital health apps to download as being positive. 80% of respondents also expressed concern about their private data being sold without their consent. They are also worried about it being shared with others without permission, or being lost or stolen and then showing up in public. 59% in the Trusted Future poll who said they would have more trust if the app needed explicit consent to collect and sell location and other sensitive information. Another 52% said they would be more likely to trust health technologies if their personal data is backed up in an encrypted way, and the same percentage are also relying on the government to do their part, saying they want policymakers to reject any effort to weaken strong encryption.
• Eli Lilly and Companyand EVA Pharma announced a collaboration to deliver a sustainable supply of high-quality, affordable human and analogue insulin to at least one million people living with type 1 and type 2 diabetes in low- to middle-income countries, most of which are in Africa. In a first for Lilly, the company will supply its active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) for insulin at a significantly reduced price to EVA Pharma. Lilly will also provide a pro-bono technology transfer to enable EVA Pharma to formulate, fill and finish insulin vials and cartridges – establishing the company as a trusted manufacturer of these lifesaving products in Africa. EVA Pharma expects to begin distribution of the African-made insulin products within 18 months and to reach one million people per year by 2030. This collaboration is part of the Lilly 30x30 initiative, which aims to improve access to quality healthcare for 30 million people living in limited-resource settings, annually, by 2030.
• ShareWell, a peer support platform connecting people overcoming similar life challenges to find support, healing and connection, announced the launch of its free digital peer support training program. The 10-hour training program was created in partnership with two therapists, a counselor and an executive coach and is designed to educate peer support hosts on how to help others with mental health struggles, while also aiding in self-healing by facilitating and leading a peer support group. A host can be anyone interested in peer support and sharing their story while actively encouraging and holding space for their peers to do the same. The training is designed for both new and experienced hosts and does not require any previous facilitation experience or expertise. The training consists of nine digital modules complete with eLearning exercises and self-reflection questions. It includes topics such as trauma awareness, crisis response and inclusion and covers everything from how to create emotional safety to how to discover your facilitation style. By completing this training, hosts will not only benefit from facilitating peer support sessions around a topic they have lived experiences with, but also gain a safe space to share their stories and actively heal amongst the group.
• care.ai, an AI-powered ambient monitoring platform in healthcare, and Ardent Health Services announced a partnership to implement care.ai’s Virtual Nursing solution at Lovelace Medical Center, Ardent’s Albuquerque, New Mexico-based affiliate. Ardent, which operates 30 hospitals and nearly 200 sites of care across six states, is among the first of care.ai’s partners to introduce AI-powered nursing. The introduction of care.ai’s Virtual Nursing solution at Lovelace will offer nurses more flexibility and expand the pool of nursing staff available. Once onboarded, nurses will be able to automate routine tasks, dedicate more time to patients, and enjoy an enhanced nursing experience. The program also opens up new career paths for experienced nurses who may have physical limitations or prefer a different work environment.
• Oscar Health announced that, based on strong Open Enrollment performance to date, it will temporarily stop accepting new members in the state of Florida, beginning December 13. Individuals seeking Oscar coverage in Florida can continue to enroll without limitation until that time. Current Oscar members in Florida who are seeking plan renewal for 2023 will not be impacted. They can renew their plan for 2023 throughout the remainder of Open Enrollment through the exchange or their broker. Any new Oscar member in Florida that has enrolled in Oscar for 2023 prior to December 13 will not be impacted. Oscar remains steadfast in the Florida market and intends to continue to provide coverage throughout 2023 and beyond.
• Virgin Pulse, a digital-first health, wellbeing, and navigation company announced that it entered into a collaborative agreement with Medsphere Systems Corporation, the leading provider of affordable and interoperable healthcare IT platform solutions and services. The two companies have established a long-term referral partnership that makes Medsphere's Marketware physician relationship management (PRM) platform the preferred solution for Virgin Pulse clients; Virgin Pulse is now the preferred customer relationship management, patient acquisition and retention, and data/analytics solution provider for Marketware clients.
• Memora Health, an intelligent platform for virtual care delivery and complex care management, announced a partnership with PeriGen, a company applying artificial intelligence to improve safety in childbirth. The partnership is looking to offer health systems the ability to use advanced technology to monitor and engage obstetrics patients from labor and delivery through the postpartum period at home. This coordinated solution for women's health will be made available to health systems nationally. This is the first collaboration formed to combine a labor and delivery inpatient solution with a post-discharge monitoring tool for those same patients, which have traditionally been separate offerings. Both Memora and PeriGen customers have reported improved outcomes using the respective systems.
• The American Psychological Association and edX, a global online learning platform from 2U, announced APA as the newest member of the global edX partner network and the launch of its first Massive Open Online Courses. The courses, delivered from APA's digital instructional resource PsycLearn Essentials, will promote the advancement, communication and application of psychological science and knowledge to over 46 million edX learners around the world. Courses will be available for enrollment in January 2023. The first APA course being offered on edX is in Qualitative Research, a cornerstone of psychological research that is essential for understanding the social reality of individuals, groups and cultures. It will be followed by many other topics impacting and informing human behavior and society, including Positive Psychology, Social Decision Making, Gender and Sexuality, and Stress and Health.
• Hound Labs, the creators of the HOUND CANNABIS BREATHALYZER, which allows employers and law enforcement to identify recent cannabis use in the breath, announced its partnership with Cynergy Wellness, a provider of nationwide physician services for workplace screening and consumer health. Under the terms of the partnership, employers using the HOUND CANNABIS BREATHALYZER will have the option to access Cynergy’s Medical Review Officer services as part of their drug testing programs. The partnership supports a novel approach to cannabis testing by enabling employers to develop workday-specific cannabis testing policies that enhance an employer’s capacity to attract and retain talent in today’s labor market. 
• Trialbee, a provider of data and technology-based patient recruitment and enrollment for clinical trials, announced a partnership with Acclinate, whose NOWINCLUDED community accesses and engages diverse populations on health-related issues. The partnership is aimed at achieving greater equity in clinical trial participation by leveraging the NOWINCLUDED community through Trialbee Honey Omnichannel. Trialbee will work with Acclinate to access and engage communities of color, encouraging disease and trial awareness within designated geographies. NOWINCLUDED will grow indication-specific communities and introduce trial opportunities to members. The partnership will leverage Acclinate's e-DICT platform, which assigns a proprietary Participant Probability Index score to assess community members' willingness to participate in clinical research. Interested members are then educated, pre-qualified and referred to research sites through Trialbee Honey Omnichannel. Sponsors and contract research organizations  that aim to improve representation in their clinical trial enrollment activities can measure success of community engagement and enrollment performance.
• Medical device and consumer electronics manufacturer Nuheara announced an expansion of its US retail footprint, from circa 300 points of sale currently to circa 4,600 over the coming months, with US FDA cleared self-fit hearing aids now being manufactured to fulfill initial orders from Best Buy and other US retail customers. Memorandum of Understanding signed with InnerScope to sell Nuheara OTC self-fit hearing aids in c1,500 Walmart and c1,700 Rite Aid stores.
• Violet, a health equity platform, announced that it has partnered with Ontrak Health, an AI and technology-enabled behavioral health company, to offer better personalized support and treatment through identity-centered care. Through the partnership, Ontrak Health will implement Violet’s continuing education for care coaches learning how to better support every health plan member served by their program. Through the partnership, Violet will onboard Ontrak’s care coaches to credential and upskill cultural competence for improved care of BIPOC, LGBQ, and TGNC patients. Violet’s training platform enables clinicians and other health care professionals to benchmark their understanding of BIPOC, LGBQ, and TGNC patient identities and care needs. Based on their benchmarks of baseline knowledge, Violet’s training platform provides personalized education pathways to help health care professionals upskill and improve their cultural competence.
• NanoVibronix, a medical device company utilizing the Company's proprietary and patented low intensity surface acoustic wave technology, announced that it has partnered with Peak Medical, a continence care patient focused company based in the United Kingdom.
• Field Medical, which develops purpose built second generation PFA technology, and CardioNXT, dedicated to improving outcomes in the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias, announced a strategic collaboration to provide the first-of-its-kind, purpose built, focal pulsed field ablation  therapy integrated seamlessly with 3D mapping & navigation. Both teams will harness decades of experience in pioneering novel PFA and navigation product solutions in various medical therapy applications. This new collaboration will accelerate development of novel integrated solutions aimed at improving safety and efficacy while minimizing need for x-rays used in cardiac catheter ablation, a market that has grown to $6B per year globally. Accurate navigation is critical to the heart rhythm treatment especially outside the atria where magnetic localization can dramatically improve positioning during the treatment of life threatening ventricular tachycardia.
• WellSky, a health and community care technology company, announced it is expanding its partnership with Option Care Health, an independent provider of home and alternate site infusion services. Option Care Health will collaborate with WellSky to accelerate innovations and workflow enhancements within WellSky’s infusion and specialty pharmacy platform, CareTend, and will implement the software across its more than 160 Option Care Health locations.
• Iterative Health, a provider of precision-medicine technologies for gastroenterology, announced that it partnered with Gastro Health, a medical group specializing in digestive and liver health, to bring its AI Recruitment technology to Gastro Health’s practices. This strategic partnership will lay the groundwork for future collaborations by using AIR to aid in the recruitment of patients for clinical trials in inflammatory bowel disease and expanding Gastro Health’s clinical research capabilities. The partnership will allow Gastro Health physicians to leverage Iterative Health’s AI-based technology to better standardize the endoscopic scoring process during IBD trial recruitment, streamlining the identification of likely eligible trial patients. In addition, the partnership will bring together each organization’s strengths and lay the foundation for future innovation in gastrointestinal care as Iterative Health integrates additional AI solutions into Gastro Health’s practices.
• Pulsara, a mobile telehealth and communication platform that connects healthcare teams across organizations, announced a pair of technical integration and collaborative deployments with Beyond Lucid Technologies: first, at the Ute Pass Regional Health Service District, then at the Delta County Ambulance District, both in Colorado. Both UPRHSD and DCAD use Pulsara’s real-time alerting notification system and BLT’s MEDIVIEW charting systems for 9-1-1 and longitudinal care, including community paramedicine, behavioral health programs, and in-home infusions.
• CooperSurgical, a women's healthcare company, and Ostro, an engagement platform dedicated to educating and empowering consumers and healthcare providers, announced their partnership to launch a new consumer engagement solution for CooperSurgical's hormone-free IUD, Paragard. Paragard is an FDA-approved intrauterine device that prevents pregnancy for up to 10 years. With the implementation of the Ostro technology, Paragard will now offer consumers a more personalized experience on Paragard.com that includes the option of connecting with a live Nurse Navigator who can answer questions and assist patients in determining if Paragard may be right for them. The Nurse Navigators, who are licensed healthcare professionals, can also assist patients with finding a healthcare provider in their area.
• BioStem Technologies, a regenerative medicine company focused on the development, manufacture, and commercialization of placental derived biologics, announced that the Company will be a corporate sponsor of Kill Cliff Fight Club, an MMA training center based-in Southern Florida.
• Paralyzed Veterans of America, a non-profit for disabled veterans, their families, and caregivers, announced a partnership with Unite Us, a company that builds coordinated care networks of health and social service providers across 46 states. As part of the partnership, Unite Us will help PVA's Veterans Career Program clients, who include transitioning service members, veterans, military spouses, and caregivers, connect with the essential resources they need, like housing, transportation, mental health, income, and more. 
• IncludeHealth, a digital musculoskeletal health company, announced a partnership with Yale New Haven Health System to transform care for patients with musculoskeletal health conditions. The partnership aims to deliver a best-in-class hybrid MSK care model for all YNHHS patients. The care model combines Yale New Haven Health’s world-renowned in-person orthopedic services with IncludeHealth’s Musculoskeletal Operating System to deliver virtual physical therapy in patients’ homes. The partnership kicked off in early 2022 at Yale New Haven Hospital with clinicians and patients. Both parties are excited for the potential to scale this model across the health system in the future.
• ŌURA, the company behind the smart ring that provides personalized insights on sleep and overall health, announced a partnership with Real Madrid Next, to provide the Oura Ring and health management services to the whole Real Madrid professional team to prioritize the health, safety, and recovery of their players. Real Madrid players will be equipped with an Oura Ring for performance optimization and sleep monitoring when they return to training facilities in December to start the second part of the 2022/2023 season. ŌURA will help the team optimize their performance by delivering personalized health insights automatically to their Oura App, allowing them to perform and recover to the best of their potential. Additionally, each player can voluntarily opt-in to participate in ŌURA’s Health Risk Management platform, which enables the players to uncover potential signs of illness and monitor their health and wellness, allowing the team’s doctors to better manage health across the roster and support Real Madrid’s existing health and safety protocols.
• US Radiology Specialists, a physician-owned radiology practice, announced that it is expanding its current partnership with radiologist-led healthcare technology firm SCANSLATED, and will now begin offering SCANSLATED's patient-centered radiology reporting service at more US Radiology outpatient imaging centers across the country. The newly announced expansion includes outpatient imaging sites in Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Texas, and Oklahoma and embodies US Radiology's commitment to providing state-of-the-art technology and a unique, easy-to-navigate patient visit experience across the enterprise.
• Syneos Health, a fully integrated biopharmaceutical solutions organization, announced it  extended its strategic partnership with Medable, a platform for patient-centered clinical trials, as part of the Company’s commitment to bring clinical trials closer to the patient. Together, Syneos Health and Medable will continue to reduce site and patient burden, improve enrollment and retention and increase patient access and diversity through innovative decentralized clinical trial solutions. Syneos Health first partnered with Medable in April 2021. Notably, over the past 18 months, Syneos Health and Medable have collaborated on more than 15 clinical trials with the aim of reaching 21,000 patients across multiple therapeutic areas. Extended work will continue to successfully deliver technology-enabled, insights-driven DCT solutions to address customers’ customized needs.
• Health spending grew by 2.7% in 2021, reaching $4.3 trillion, according to data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. CMS' annual National Health Expenditures report shows health spending grew at a much slower rate last year than in 2020, where health spending increased by 10.7%. The authors wrote that this decrease is likely due to far lower federal healthcare spending, which spiked in 2020 thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. The CMS analysts said federal health expenditures decreased by 3.5% in 2021 as funding for the COVID-19 response slowed.
• Eli Lilly and Prescryptive Health, a company focused on improving the prescription drug market, announced a partnership with the aim of lowering costs for people who pay for their Lilly insulin through their employer-sponsored benefits. In lieu of a traditional rebate arrangement, the program offers a subscription fee model. In addition, the program also introduces a risk-sharing element with the employer based on health outcomes. The program is meant to accomplish three things, he explained: first, to provides a predictable, fixed net price in the market for employers free of any additional margin or rebates artificially driving up the cost. Second, it's focused on the patient’s health and total cost of healthcare. Finally, it makes insulin affordable enough that employers can offer it at low or no cost to their employees to remove the barrier to better health outcomes. The idea is that affordable access to insulin can promote proper utilization of insulin, resulting in better glucose control, and that better diabetes management could mean reduction in avoidable medical events, leading to total cost reduction for both the employee and the employer.
• Ardent Health Services announced a partnership to implement care.ai’s Virtual Nursing solution at Lovelace Medical Center, Ardent’s Albuquerque, New Mexico-based affiliate. Ardent, which operates 30 hospitals and nearly 200 sites of care across six states, is among the first of care.ai’s partners to introduce AI-powered nursing. By starting with care.ai's Virtual Nursing solution, a Lovelace nurse will virtually appear on screen through the television in a patient’s room and provide assistance with a variety of administrative and clinical tasks such as admission, routine monitoring, rounding, discharge, and other clinical and operational workflows. This will support Ardent’s bedside nurses to focus their time on what they were trained to do: deliver hands-on care to patients. The idea is to ultimately increase staff retention, improve patient satisfaction, and reduce operating costs. Additionally, care.ai's Virtual Nursing solution expands the pool of nursing staff available to Lovelace Medical Center by unlocking new career paths for experienced nurses who may have physical limitations or prefer a different work environment, Toleti explained. While the Lovelace Medical Center will be the first to implement the solution, there are already plans to bring it to other Ardent-affiliated facilities, with the expectation of deploying the full platform more broadly across Ardent's entire system.
• Anumana, an AI-driven company that develops ECG algorithms enabling early disease diagnosis and intervention, announced a multi-year agreement with Pfizer. The plan is to develop a new AI-ECG algorithm to help identify patients who may be at risk of cardiac amyloidosis. As per the partnership, Anumana will conduct a clinical validation trial and pursue regulatory approval for the algorithm as a Software-as-a-Medical-Device (SaMD) for the detection of cardiac amyloidosis in the U.S., Europe, and Japan. This new agreement with Pfizer will help Anumana in its efforts to implement AI-enabled early detection software that can reveal signals from ECGs, which humans cannot interpret. The company believes that since ECG's are ubiquitous and non-invasive, it gives AI-ECG algorithms the potential to reach a larger number of patients earlier.
• Superior HealthPlan, a provider of managed health care programs and services, announced a partnership with MedArrive, a network of trusted EMT providers who act as a bridge between patient and physician, and Brave Health, a virtual mental health provider and engagement platform focused on the Medicaid population to create a new home health program with the aim of helping them to avoid unnecessary trips to the ED. Working with the MedArrive and Superior Care Management teams, field providers will visit the homes of members who enroll in the program, providing in-home healthcare services, diagnostics, health assessments, and other preventive health measures. Field providers can connect members with physician-led telemedicine services, as well as address needs such as transportation issues, mobility challenges, and nutrition assistance, and they can connect a member to a behavioral health specialist if necessary via Brave Health. To start, approximately 40,000 members, who have been identified to have the most critical needs, will have access to this program, though Superior HealthPlan provides healthcare to 1.7 million Texas residents.
•  report from Ribbon Health, a health data platform that provides healthcare enterprises with an API layer for accurate data on doctors, insurance plans, cost, and quality of care, found that 62% of Americans don't trust their health plan when searching for care, and only 28% of respondents said that they are likely to use their plan's website to search for a provider. A big part of that has to do with the fact, as noted in the study, that more than half of provider listings have at least one inaccurate piece of information, which can potentially lead to patients being matched with the wrong provider, making them more likely to opt out of the healthcare, thus putting them at risk for worse health and more costly care later on, while increasing future expenses for health plans. Ribbon Health surveyed 1,000 consumers across the United States, and almost half of respondents said that the most important thing to them when searching for the right provider is that provider's level of experience treating their specific healthcare need. That was followed by 42% who said they looked for a convenient location, and 40% who said they needed to have information about the cost of care. In all, 61% view provider information like demographics, quality ratings, and cost of care as "somewhat" or "very" important, and 38% of respondents said inaccurate information led them to have a negative healthcare experience.
• Cylera, a provider of healthcare IoT and medical device cybersecurity and intelligence, announced its deep integration with Cisco’s Network Access Control product, the Cisco Identity Services Engine. Industry NAC solutions ensure that only authorised users and devices are granted access to network resources. However, especially in healthcare and clinical settings, NAC solutions alone are not able to identify the wide range of IoT and medical device types, device manufacturers, unique and specialised protocols, software, firmware, etc., nor able to establish the appropriate security policies for user and device access control for these devices. This leaves a gap in cybersecurity and policy which can be devastating to patient care and healthcare services. The Cylera and Cisco integration addresses this issue.
• Concert Health, a behavioral health medical group, announced a partnership with Med First, a North Carolina-based care provider, to deliver integrated behavioral health services directly within its primary care clinics. The collaboration gives all of Med First’s primary care and specialty care physicians and patients same-day access to Concert Health’s expert clinicians. In partnership with Concert Health, care is integrated from beginning to end. Each patient is assigned a Collaborative Care Clinician, who is a trained, masters-level clinical provider. This clinician works closely with the patient's provider to help them experience symptom changes. The Collaborative Care Clinician schedules regular check-ins with the patient to set goals, develop and implement coping strategies, and provide support for behavioral health medications (if prescribed). They meet with the patient by phone or video to track their treatment progress and collaborate with other members of the care team and the patient to make any necessary adjustments to the care plan. In addition to the Collaborative Care Clinician, a psychiatric consultant is available as an expert resource for both the provider and clinician. The team psychiatrist or psychiatric nurse practitioner is available to answer diagnostic questions and advise the care team on treatment options. The Collaborative Care Clinician regularly meets with the consultant to discuss the patient's progress in the program and develop additional treatment options.
• PatientsLikeMe, a community health network that empowers patients to take charge of their health, announced its partnership with LetsGetChecked, a global healthcare solutions company. The partnership will provide PLM’s 1 million members with access to enhanced patient support capabilities for testing. PLM’s expansive patient community can now utilize LetsGetChecked’s suite of offerings directly through the PLM platform and receive a discount on screening tests for being a PLM member.
• Novant Health, a not-for-profit integrated system of medical centers with more than 1,800 physicians providing care through six million annual patient visits at nearly 800 locations across North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, and Movano Health, a purpose-driven healthcare solutions company at the intersection of medical and consumer devices, announced the development of a beta program. In the program, approximately thirty Novant Health team members will evaluate the functionality and wearability of Movano Health's first commercial product, a smart ring designed to track and analyze medical grade data and deliver insights to consumers across a wide spectrum of healthcare needs. Expected to begin this month, the beta program will prepare Movano Health for its direct-to-consumer product launch in the first half of 2023.
• MaineHealth is making a $500,000 investment in health-tech innovation over the next three years by partnering with the Roux Institute at Northeastern University and Northern Light Health in The Future of Healthcare Founder Residency. This first-of-its-kind program aims to bring 30 early-stage health-tech companies to Maine over the next 3 years, providing them with funds, expert advice, and clinical environments to test their ideas. Founders receive a $50,000 investment and spend 12 months working out of the Roux Institute at Northeastern University to develop, vet and trial creative solutions to complex problems facing Maine’s healthcare industry. MaineHealth will not only provide some of the funding but also its health care expertise and access to clinical spaces where founders can trial their ideas. MaineHealth patients will benefit from early access to cutting-edge care, and MaineHealth will have an equity stake in successful businesses.
• Khure Health, which allows physicians to identify rare disease patients and put them on the right care pathway, expanded into the American healthcare market. Khure Health is now offering its AI-enabled clinical intelligence technology and services for rare and complex diseases to healthcare practitioners in the United States. Khure Health has recently signed its first US contract with one of the largest private nephrology practices in the southern United States comprising over 25 outpatient clinics and more than 40 dialysis centers. The agreement has already begun to drive revenue in Q4 2022 via an associated agreement with a large established top 10 global pharmaceutical company. The agreement will allow Khure Health to showcase its clinical data insights capabilities in a specialist healthcare setting and will enable further clinical research and data insights partnerships with life sciences companies.
• CardioComm Solutions, a provider of consumer heart monitoring and electrocardiogram device and software solutions, announced a technology integration agreement with CareXM, a provider of virtual care and patient engagement solutions for healthcare providers. Under the agreement CareXM has integrated ECG monitoring capabilities through their TouchPointCare telemedicine platform.
• Signify Health, a healthcare platform that leverages advanced analytics, technology and nationwide healthcare networks to create and power value-based payment programs, announced an expansion of its relationship with Ardent Health Services, a provider of healthcare services with more than 200 sites of care across six states. Ardent will join a 2023 Signify-enabled accountable care organization to implement care transformation, manage risk and provide high-quality, coordinated care for its Medicare patients. Ardent’s affiliated network of facilities and physicians in New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas will work together with independent providers in a collaborative ACO model to achieve the benefits of scale and to effectively manage risk. The strategic collaboration will support alignment with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ goal of having all Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in an accountable relationship by 2030.
• Ripple Science, a digital clinical trial software company, announced a partnership with Michigan Medicine Department of Psychiatry, increasing the accessibility of Ripple’s patient engagement software platform for psychiatry research teams. As a centrally vetted research tool, Ripple plays an integral role enabling principal investigators and their teams, who are dedicated to producing impactful research that promotes positive mental health and improves access to care for all patients.
• TriHealth, a Cincinnati-based integrated healthcare delivery system, announced it is now an affiliate of Cleveland Clinic’s Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute, the nation’s top-ranked heart program. Cleveland Clinic will work with TriHealth clinicians and multidisciplinary teams, including those at Good Samaritan Hospital, Bethesda North Hospital and the TriHealth Heart & Vascular Institute. Cleveland Clinic’s Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute will share clinical best practices for patient care, giving TriHealth patients access to the expertise of Cleveland Clinic physicians as well as the latest technologies and innovations in heart care.
• Clinithink, a company that has developed AI capable of understanding unstructured medical notes, is collaborating with AstraZeneca Oncology UK on a project which aims to find patients with lung cancer at a sufficiently early stage when treatment can be more effective. The research, which is funded by AZ, hopes to demonstrate potential savings based on a novel AI approach, while also identifying benefits for patients in being treated earlier in the disease process. It also aims to identify patients that could benefit from lung disease screening, leading to earlier diagnosis of the disease – potentially improving patient outcomes, increasing rates of survival and reducing costs for the NHS.
• Airway Management, a manufacturer of custom oral appliances, announced flexTAP, a lab-made oral appliance treating snoring and mild to moderate obstructive sleep apnea, will be available through partner dental labs. Reacting to growing demand and interest in the product following its initial launch in fall 2022, AMI is working with nearly 100 partner labs for an early 2023 launch. The launch of flexTAP through its dental labs will streamline the process to deliver the custom oral appliance to dentists and consumers around the world. flexTAP's customizable design and adaptable technology, which utilizes Vertex Technology paired with the flexTAP Mouth Shield comfort accessory, also eliminates barriers for labs to efficiently create the product and for clinicians to timely treat patients.
• CenSyn, a digital telehealth company advancing portable screening of brain health-related conditions via its platform for integrated brain health screening, announced its strategic partnership with HonorHealth, a healthcare system serving 1.6 million people in the greater Phoenix area. CenSyn will conduct future clinical studies with HonorHealth clinicians to deliver breakthrough approaches to patients in brain health evaluation management.
• Niagara Health signed a 10-year agreement with Oracle Cerner to build a modern hospital information system that will serve all five Niagara Health sites and Hotel Dieu Shaver Health and Rehabilitation Centre. The new hospital information system will allow Niagara Health and Hotel Dieu Shaver to replace paper-based records and outdated electronic processes with more modern, connected and accessible electronic health records. The system will enable better management of data, improved patient safety, faster access to information, enhanced quality and consistency of patient care, and more.
• Paras Healthcare, a chain of multispecialty hospitals in India, is embarking on a digital transformation with the aid of its partner MyHealthcare. The 700-bed hospital group will be deploying the MyHealthcare Enterprise Application ecosystem, which is built on a scalable, microservices cloud-based platform. It will enable Paras to launch a suite of patient engagement apps, including the Paras Patient Mobile App, Patient Portal, and a WhatsApp channel, which all connect to an AI-based EMR ecosystem for outpatient, in-patient and emergency services.
• Lynx.MD announced a partnership with Gastro Health, a U.S. medical group specializing in digestive and liver health, to create the largest repository of real-world clinical data in the gastroenterology space for research and development of new GI solutions. Gastro Health will use the Lynx platform across its practices to support research and development of GI-specific tools to advance its mission to provide outstanding medical care and an exceptional healthcare experience to all of their patients. The partnership will create one of the largest repositories of structured and unstructured GI-related medical datasets providing researchers with the data they need to improve outcomes for gastrointestinal patients globally. The Lynx platform provides advanced firewall algorithms and the application of medical-grade cybersecurity protection protocols, enabling partners to securely collaborate with de-identified, real-world data. Gastro Health maintains full control of what data is anonymized and when and with whom data is shared. The actual data never leaves Gastro Health's private cloud environment. Researchers receive secure permissioned access to perform large-scale computations, modeling, and analysis within the platform.
• Origin and Aloe Care Healt forged a partnership that will result in a breakthrough in-home safety solution for older adults and caregivers. In the first half of 2023, Aloe Care will launch new in-home safety devices and a service offering that will automatically detect whole-home motion and falls. In addition to Aloe Care's advanced machine learning tools, the system will use Origin's patented WiFi Sensing technology, eliminating the need for wearable devices or cameras indoors.

M&A

• Henry Schein, a provider of health care solutions to office-based dental and medical practitioners, entered into a definitive agreement with the shareholders of Biotech Dental S.A.S., a provider of innovative clinical software and oral surgery and orthodontic products, to acquire a majority ownership stake in the company
• CareOregon , a nonprofit providing health plan services to 1 in 16 Oregonians, and SCAN Group, an organization tackling some of the biggest issues in healthcare for older adults, entered into a definitive agreement to merge as a not-for-profit healthcare organization under the name HealthRight Group
• Harrow, an eyecare pharmaceutical company exclusively focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of innovative ophthalmic therapies, into a binding agreement for the acquisition of the exclusive U.S. commercial rights to five FDA‑approved ophthalmic products Novartis
• Prenetics Global Limited, a provider of genomic and diagnostic testing, acquired a majority stake of ACT, a genomics company specializing in precision oncology
• BehaVR, a company creating digital therapeutics for mental health using virtual reality, merged with OxfordVR, a UK-based developer of virtual reality therapy
• Tandem Diabetes Care, a global insulin delivery and diabetes technology company, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire AMF Medical SA, the developer of the Sigi Patch Pump
• CIMSS, an organization with aims to improve patient outcomes for their clients and reduce unnecessary health care costsm acquired RxCompli, a medication adherence provider
• Health Cloud Initiative acquired Monitored Rehab Systems, a local physical therapy software business, from DIH, a robotics and virtual reality technology provider
• Vector Health Labs, a healthcare technology and service delivery company, completed its acquisition of mental health training and delivery platform Get A-Head 
• Veranex, a tech-enabled service provider dedicated to the MedTech industry, acquired Fusion Biotec, a design and engineering leader for complex electro-mechanical diagnostic instrumentation and medical devices
• Observe Medical, a medtech company, entered into an exclusivity agreement to negotiate an acquisition of Ferrari L., which owns and operates a production facility for medical and surgical equipment located in Verona, Italy
• PanGenomic Health, a precision health company, completed its acquisition of Mindleap Health, a biotechnology company focused on upgrading mental healthcare, from Mydecine Innovations Group, a biotechnology company addressing addiction and mental health
• Carisk Partners, a provider of specialty risk transfer and care coordination services in the workers’ compensation market, completed its acquisition of Advanced Claims Review Specialists, a medical cost containment company
• ASP Global, a strategic sourcing company serving America’s largest health systems, labs and distributors, acquired RAM Scientific, a provider of plastic capillary blood collection devices 

Funding Roundup 

• Senzo, a point-of-care diagnostic company, raised $1.9 million
• Spike, which help digital health apps utilize wearable data, raised $700,000
• BehaVR, a company creating digital therapeutics for mental health using virtual reality, raised $13 million
• Alpha-9 Theranostics, a clinical stage company developing differentiated and highly targeted radiopharmaceuticals, raised $75 million
• TransVoyant, an intelligent supply chain for the life sciences industry, raised an undisclosed amount of funding
• HistoSonics, developer of a non-invasive, novel sonic beam therapy, raised $100 million
• Blod.in, a blood management platform, raised an undisclosed amount of funding
• Aktivolabs, a provider of digital health solutions that help populations understand and manage their risk of chronic diseases, raised $10 million
• Gesund, a company ensuring that medical AI is safe and effective for all, raised an undisclosed amount of funding 
• Peroxitech, biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of a therapeutic for treatment of acute lung injury, raised $25 million
• PaxeraHealth, a medical imaging and AI developer, raised an undisclosed amount of funding
• MyHealth Africa, a startup connecting patients with health specialists across the globe, raised $1 million
• In-Med Prognostics, an AI imaging company, raised $2.13 million
• Synchron, the endovascular brain-computer interface company, raised $75 million
• Fountain Life, a preventative health and longevity company committed to transforming global healthcare from reactive to proactive, raised $15 million
• Tellus Therapeutics, a neonatal care company developing treatments for newborns in the neonatal intensive care unit, raised $35 million
• PhenoVista Biosciences, a contract research organization and provider of both custom and off-the-shelf imaging-based assay services, raised an undisclosed amount of funding
• MasterControl, a provider of quality and manufacturing software solutions for life sciences, raised $150 million
• Fortified Health Security, a managed security services provider to the healthcare industry, raised an undisclosed amount of funding 

(Image source: alariss.com)